THE good news for Currie Chieftains, and the bad news for their rivals, is that Adam Hastings expects to be available for the Malleny Park side for the next few weeks. Glasgow head coach Dave Rennie could decide otherwise, of course, but Plan A at least is for the Warriors stand-off to continue his return from injury in the BT Premiership, meaning he could feature in home games against Stirling County and Boroughmuir as well as a trip to Marr this month.
The 21-year-old, who gashed a thigh while playing against Connacht in the PRO14 last month, made his return to action in the Chieftains’ dramatic home win over Glasgow Hawks on Saturday. Things may not have gone all his way in the first half, which ended with the visitors 27-5 ahead, but everything clicked into gear after the break as Currie ran in 24 unanswered points to claim a win that has taken them up to third in the table.
“I’m a bit rusty, and a bit tired,” Hastings said after the match. “But what a game. It was really good fun – I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better game to come into.”
Currie had a lot of possession in the first half but were unable to make use of it until they scored just before the break, whereas Hawks appeared able to score almost at will, and had secured the try bonus point with a little over half an hour on the clock. But according to Hastings, even when they went so far behind, his new team-mates remained convinced that they would end up on top.The fact that a gusting wind was going to be behind them in the second half was part of the reason for that confidence, but perhaps the more telling reason was simply that they knew they could play a lot better than they had been doing.
“To be honest, we weren’t ever really worried, you know. We had a lot of the ball first half and we were cutting them apart in phases. I think it was just the wind was actually very strong – you don’t realise how much of an advantage it is. We all said at half-time ‘We’ve got the wind this half’ – a bit of a cliche, but it seemed to work.
“We’ve got a great back line, obviously. There’s a few sevens boys in there, boys with pro experience, and then the forwards fronted up well for most of the game. They did a bit of running – I was ordering them about, so I felt sorry for them. But they did brilliantly.”
Having joined Glasgow from Bath in the summer, Hastings was frustrated to pick up that injury in his first competitive match for his new club. Now that he is back in action, however, his aim will be to return to full match fitness as speedily as possible and get back into contention for a place in Rennie’s squad.
“It was obviously enjoyable getting a run out, but then to sit on the sidelines for the next four weeks, especially with the team going so well, has been tough,” he added. “But hopefully I’ll get a few good games for Currie under my belt then I’ll be fine.”
Asked if the head coach had told him that that would be the plan, he explained that nothing was set in stone. “I’m not sure – he might throw me back in. I’ve no idea. But yeah, happy days.”
Happy days indeed for Currie if they keep Hastings on board for a while longer – and if they can keep putting in performances like this.
