'We can't spend £400,000 on a decent-level Super Rugby player. To me, that's crazy'
The departure of Jason O’Halloran will not be mourned in Glasgow as long and loud as those of Finn Russell, Stuart Hogg or Jonny Gray, nor will his legacy be debated and scrutinised in the years to come as Dave Rennie’s has been already, yet the attack coach has played a critical role in driving the Scottish game forwards.
Intelligent and affable, O’Halloran is a fascinating rugby man. The former All Black revolutionised Scotland’s attack under Vern Cotter and with Rennie, added extra gears to an already potent Glasgow squad. He helped polish a cohort of tremendous young players, pushed hard for a fairer approach to Scotland’s academy system and famously delivered a frank indictment of how the Scottish setup lagged decades behind New Zealand in sports psychology and mental preparation.
With Rennie’s exit for Australia, he too is leaving, taking up an assistant coach role with Suntory Sungoliath. And in reflecting on four-and-a-half years in Scotland, he sheds light on a predicament facing Glasgow amid their need for new blood, a predicament causing mounting disquiet among the club’s fans.
It is a simple fact that Glasgow cannot cling on to the Hoggs and Russells and Grays forever, but it is the dearth of prime cattle coming the other way that has supporters fretting.
“Everyone bemoans the fact that we lose a lot of quality players like Hoggy, Finn and Jonny,” O’Halloran tells RugbyPass. “A lot of people want us to throw all that money back at two other massive names – you’ve got to reinvest in your squad.
“Young guys that have become more successful can’t be kept for £50,000-60,000 anymore. You have to keep paying them more as they develop and that eats up a lot of cash.
“And are you going to shell out £300,000-400,000 for a slightly-better-than-mediocre Super Rugby player, or are you going to continue to develop young guys? That’s better for Scotland as well.”
If, for instance, Glasgow have a burgeoning Adam Hastings hungry and good enough to make the jersey his own with Russell gone, then that’s great. But it isn’t always the case. This season, Rennie had to make do and mend at full-back, shifting Tommy Seymour across from the wing, using Ruaridh Jackson or Glenn Bryce to fill a gaping Hogg-shaped void.
Glasgow cannot sign another Hogg. And realistically, the Jacksons and Seymours are bridging a gap until the next youngster – very likely Rufus McLean or Ollie Smith – is ready to be bled into the team.
But Warriors have powered themselves to such a height – semi-finals and finals, Champions Cup knock-out appearances, a relentlessly sold-out Scotstoun – that spells in transition lead to anxiety. If the kids aren’t ready, Glasgow need to recruit. But in the pre-coronavirus market, how could they justify forking out vast sums for players who aren’t masses better than what they already have? And if they can’t or won’t pay those wages, how do they get substantially better?
“You’ve got to identify two or three key positions you need to bolster and be prepared to spend some money there and then understand where that money is coming from, so you might to give a little bit in one area to get some in another,” O’Halloran says.
“There was talk that Alex Goode might be available at one stage and I thought a guy like that would be ideal. If you look at anyone back in Super Rugby that’s competent at full-back, they want £300,000-400,000.
“A couple of years ago, we looked at Matt Proctor, who is a good utility back, he got a Test for the All Blacks, and they wanted £350,000-380,000 for him. That’s mad. It’s a criminal amount of money. And he got it and then some at Northampton Saints.
“We can’t spend £400,000 on a decent-level Super Rugby player. To me, that’s crazy. Is he that much better than a Nick Grigg that you’re going to splash out that much money on them? That’s a big conundrum. At what stage do you go, yeah, we’re prepared to spend £400,000 on this guy because he’s that much better than what we have?”
Glasgow could do with a real juggernaut at blind-side or number eight, dependable cover at half-back, and a flourish of quality in the second-row.
Leone Nakarawa might yet deliver that stardust, as he comes to the end of his brief but spectacular second spell at the club. The Fijian colossus is one of the most coveted players in the game and while they can’t pay him top dollar, he feels cherished and happy in the city, especially after his acrimonious exit from Racing 92.
As he left for Australia, Rennie said that Danny Wilson, his successor, would soon be unveiling new signings. What Glasgow and their fans would give for Nakarawa to be among them.
“I’m pretty assured that they are definitely trying to keep him,” O’Halloran says. “In a nutshell, right, when Leone arrived in January, I think we were 11th for off-loads in the Pro14. Five games later, we were first – and first by a mile.
“I know Leone throws the odd loose one, but all of a sudden, guys are thinking about moving the ball in the tackle straight away. The biggest thing about him is he brings confidence to people around him. His first touch for us away to Sale was a try. Our off-load numbers went up, but our off-load accuracy was always above 80%, and that’s a key threshold for us.
“Leone is an unbelievable athlete and you can play him at 6, 8 or lock. He’s a great line-out forward as well. He’s an important cog to try and retain for sure, and he loves being in Glasgow. You’d like to think a quality Fijian international like that might attract other Fijians. If he can stay fit, he can still have a massive impact.”
While he could not deliver a trophy, Rennie’s legacy will endure in the young men he nurtured and developed into exhilarating players, individuals who still have a lot of growing to do but are already among the top operators in the Pro14. Hastings is the most striking example of sustained and excellent improvement, but George Horne, Matt and Zander Fagerson, and Scott Cummings have all made massive strides. O’Halloran is seriously excited about Bruce Flockhart, the hulking number eight, and Tom Gordon, the effervescent open-side who was involved in Scotland’s Six Nations training squad.
Rennie also advocated robustly for change to the national academies that could benefit Glasgow in the years ahead. He felt that Edinburgh’s proliferation of storied, rugby-playing private schools gave the professional team unfair access to a heap of emerging talent.
Glasgow signed Jamie Dobie straight from Edinburgh’s Merchiston Castle School in the summer, and already, the teenage scrum-half looks to be a mighty prospect.
“Dave was instrumental in trying to change Scottish Rugby’s mindset towards the academies,” O’Halloran says. “Pretty much all of the quality players go down to Merchiston or whichever big Edinburgh school and come under Edinburgh’s umbrella.
“We were trying to promote the fact that it should be a contestable process, so we can approach anybody in the country and offer them an opportunity at Glasgow and in doing that, create competition, so Edinburgh have to show up on their soil and do their job better, and that makes both entities better.
“I don’t think you should be able to sit back and rake in all this talent because it just happens to be going to school near you, especially when some of those kids are from the Glasgow area but have moved to Edinburgh. A lot of things need to go on in that regard.
“The best way to circumvent the lack of cash is to have quality academies. That’s where Leinster are better than anybody else – their academy is friggin’ outstanding, they keep pumping out quality guys time and time and time again. I hope Scotland continues to pursue an academy system that’s contestable.”
O’Halloran worries too that Scottish Rugby is failing to harness a slew of fine young players in the Borders, the legendary old heartland of the game where there has not been a professional team since 2007.
The Borders have bestowed upon Scotland so many titans, from Jim Telfer to Gary Armstrong, and more recently, Darcy Graham, Greig Laidlaw, Ross Ford, Rory Sutherland and Hogg. The region can be hampered by town rivalries and parochialism, but perhaps there is something intangible in the Borders psyche that makes for especially ferocious combatants.
“I feel like the Borders is still an area that is under-utilised,” O’Halloran says. “There are some quality kids down there.
“I know it can be an insular area where they don’t like their kids to leave the Borders, but you look at Hoggy, Greig, Rory Sutherland, there are some real quality competitors that come out of the Borders and I can’t help but think there are a few gold nuggets down there that are just left unvarnished.
“Maybe Scottish Rugby should be doing a better job at identifying and showing those guys a pathway and making them realise that’s it not going to be like moving to Mars to move to Edinburgh or Glasgow from the Borders. Some of the best talent I’ve been involved with in my time in Scotland comes out of the Borders.”
In a few weeks, O’Halloran will fly home to New Zealand where his family are waiting, and ultimately, at some point, whenever coronavirus restrictions allow, on to Japan. There will be no great fanfare for him, but his guile, insight and honesty will be sorely missed.
Comments on RugbyPass
> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
2 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
1 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
5 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
2 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
5 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
5 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
3 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
16 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
16 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to comments