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What Scotland expect from Tom Jordan in Sione Tuipulotu's No12 role

By PA
Tom Jordan arrives for Scotoland's November match with Fiji (Photo by Euan Cherry/Getty Images)

Scotland co-captain Rory Darge backed his Glasgow teammate Tom Jordan to continue his “whirlwind” journey by taking his first Guinness Six Nations start in his stride against Ireland on Sunday.

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The 26-year-old back will wear the number 12 jersey usually reserved for injured centre and national team captain Sione Tuipulotu after a strong display as a second-half replacement for Stafford McDowall in last weekend’s 31-19 win over Italy.

New Zealand-born Jordan – who initially joined semi-pro side Ayrshire after moving to Scotland in 2019 and then signed for Glasgow in 2022 – won his first four caps for Gregor Townsend’s side in November after qualifying on residency grounds.

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Darge has watched Jordan’s rise to prominence at close quarters over the past few years and has been impressed at the way his versatile clubmate – who has played at inside centre, stand-off and full-back this season alone – has taken to life in the Test arena.

“It’s been pretty whirlwind, hasn’t it? He has just gone from strength to strength,” said the back-rower. “With Tom, he has already shown that he can play at Test-match level. Last week when he came on, he brought real energy. In his first cap, he was playing at full-back and he slotted in really well and did a job.

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“He will be really excited to go out and play at 12 where he has probably played most of his rugby. But then at Glasgow, he has played a lot at 10, which just shows the sort of quality player he is, that he can cover and play to a really high standard in all those positions.”

Much has been made of the impact Tuipulotu’s absence could have on Scotland’s championship prospects, but Darge has no doubt Jordan is equipped to handle the pressure of deputising for the influential skipper. “Of course he is, yes,” he said.

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“Sione being out of the squad is something that (means) almost everyone has to maybe bring a little bit more of their sort of leadership, because he’s a massively important player to us in terms of leadership in his performances. But I’m really excited to see Tom go tomorrow.”

Scotland are aiming to end a 10-game losing streak against Ireland and Darge, who has played in three of those matches, respects their durability.

“Ireland are obviously world-class and the danger when you play them is they don’t necessarily go away,” he said. “They stay at it and there are so many words you can use to describe their qualities. They are clinical. If you give them those opportunities, they usually take them.

“Their breakdown work is world-class. We know that it’s going to be some challenge to get a result in Sunday, but rather than focus on that too much, we just have to really bring our focus and attention to what we can do well.”

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Darge, who will line up alongside his Glasgow colleagues Jack Dempsey and Matt Fagerson in the back row, is braced for a formidable test from Ireland’s trio of Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris.

“The whole back row, you look at Pete, you look at Caelan as well, they are going to bring a massive amount of quality around the breakdown, and try and slow us down and speed their ball up,” said Darge. “As a back row and as a team, we have got a massive challenge on our hands to get parity there and try and give ourselves the best chance.”

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Comments

1 Comment
T
Tom 155 days ago

Very surprised Jordan didn't start last week. If you're looking for a powerful ball carrier with good handling and kicking skills to try and fill the boots of Tuipulotu, look no further! He's not as direct on the carry but he's quicker and has excellent skills. One to watch for sure.

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H
Hellhound 37 minutes ago
Bok rule-benders are changing the game. They deserve respect

You want a lot of things that will never happen. You describe rugby League. You should go and watch that then. Rugby is supposed to be competitive. It's the opposition team that should figure out how to defend and turn it into an attack on the fly. The Boks play within the rules. Everyone says that kick off should have been a penalty. The law state that from a kick off it's a scrum. It's confusing as with mauls and rucks, the player has to be behind the kicker. The same does not hold true for kick offs. That law they can change, because the same rule should apply across the board for players to be behind the kicker. It's not the first time that the infield lineout has been used, only the first time in an international match. If I remember correctly, the Barbarians used it against England in 2021 or 2022 (under correction). It's also been used in SR during the 2000’s. There is just this big hoo haw because the Boks did it. If it was another team like the Irish or England or the French or someone, it would be innovative, genius and brilliant. The dummy the AB's did where a player broke to the right, acting like he had the ball, meanwhile the scrumhalfs ran down the sideline and scored. I don't hear you cry about that. That can be seen as cynical play and there is even a case for unsportsmanlike behaviour and at a minimum a yellow card. Yet there is silence from you about that. I on the other hand thought that was a great tactic. It's also not a new invention, but an old one. You only love rugby when it suits you. I don't care what new tactics teams use, or whoever the team is that is doing it. Every new invention or tactic or play that the coaches comes up with is great for rugby. It keeps it interesting. There is no law that prevents other coaches using the same tactics or create their own. It's up to coaches to come up with defense strategies to cut that down, and even retaliate against it. The game is never boring. It keeps evolving. People keep talking about rugby and all these things is what draw new fans. They don't want boring. They want innovative and fun. They want to hear the crash of bodies. They want to see the strength of the scrums. They want to see the speed, agility and flair of the players. The amazing passes and jukes or side steps. The only reason you are so up in arms is because the Boks did it and now you want it banned. The same rhyme over and over. Matt Williams wannabe. Nah, you don't love rugby or else you would enjoy the most exciting era yet in this lovely sport. Stars in so many national teams has never been more abundant nor was there so many teams that could beat each other on any given day. Not to even mention watching an era of the most controversial but most innovative and clever coach ever. A dynasty that's to last for a very long time even after he retires. Like him or hate him, his genius is undeniable and he is recognised world wide as the best coach in most countries by fans and pundits alike, even if they don't like him. Stop the hate and rather enjoy what's to come.

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C
CO 2 hours ago
Bok rule-benders are changing the game. They deserve respect

I support playing rugby in the spirit of the game, I detest mauls but respect it as a valid and interesting exception to the obstruction laws, it's requiring though less penalty options against the defenders with collapsing penalties only for blatant intent.


I detest all the scrum penalties dished out to teams deep inside their own half and think it should be play on if the ball is playable from a scrum if it collapsed rather than a penalty.


I detest silly antics like ‘lineouts’ in the middle of the field and intentional kickoffs to offside players. That to me is disrespectful of our amazing sport.


I support policing the offside laws intensely to ensure so called rush defence isn't simply offside.


I support penalizing all players leaving their feet at the ruck, players flying in and flopping onto the pile to seal off the ball.


I detest the current situation where defenders put their hands on the ball and are then warned, it should be a penalty then yellow.


Penalizing players coming into the ruck from the side and taking out defenders.


I support wingers and fullbacks scoring most of the tries.


I support any team that plays their rugby positively and not cynical slowdowns.


I see players like DuPont, Arendse, Will Jordan, French outside backs with blistering pace and want those players to have the time and space to be superstars.


I want teams that field eight forwards on the bench to be well beaten by teams that field five.


Midfielders I want more Moodies and less Allende battering rams.


Libbok and Pollard I respect both types of first five but would pick Pollard in a world cup final.


I want penalties to be reduced to two points and tries increased to six, except maul tries, they should be reduced to four points.

39 Go to comments
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