If it weren’t for bad luck, Kyle Rowe might feel he’d have no luck at all over the last 15 months.
What ought to have been a dream moment for the winger last July, when the former Scotland 7s player made his full-team debut away to Argentina in Salta, turned quickly into a nightmare when he sustained cruciate knee ligament damage during a brief cameo that would sideline him for the remainder of the season.
In the midst of his rehabilitation came another blow with news that his club, London Irish, was heading for administration. Injured and unemployed, Rowe’s prospects did not look great.
Salvation, though, came from a familiar source. Rowe had been on the fringes of the Glasgow Warriors squad in the pre-Covid season and must have made something of an impression before heading off, briefly, to Edinburgh and then London Irish.
It was the Scotstoun club who reached out to offer him a lifeline with a two-year contract, with Rowe making his first on-field appearance since last summer in Saturday night’s pre-season friendly win over Zebre. He remains grateful that Warriors took a chance on him when he was at his lowest ebb.
“I’m one of the lucky ones that was able to get a club,” he said. “I knew a few of the boys don’t have that luxury yet.
“I count myself fortunate that a club like Glasgow wanted me and now I want to repay them for showing that faith in me. It’s been great settling in at the club. I grew up with quite a lot of these boys before I went down to London Irish.
“And I know quite a few others from the Scotland camp as well. It’s been a seamless transition coming back.”
There was no sign of any rustiness as he ran in two first-half tries, with the hope now that he can push on to augment Glasgow’s back three options when the season gets underway for real, while also staking a claim to return to the Scotland squad as soon as he can.
“It was great to get out there for my first appearance,” he added. “The weather held up for us and we managed to play some good rugby. It was my first proper game back since doing my knee last summer so it was great to get that first hit-out again and get the win for the fans.
“I was quite sore after the game but generally my knee and body are all fine and I’m just ready to rip into it again next week [against Ulster] and then into the competitive action.
“On a personal basis my goal this season is just to play as much as I can to help the team out. And as a squad we ultimately want to win both competitions [the United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup]. We want to win as much as we can.
“Scotland is in my thoughts, too. I want to be part of that Six Nations squad and aim to break through into the team. And then just go from there.”
He modestly deflected praise for his two tries onto his new team-mates for teeing him up. “I just managed to get the easy ones. Right place, right time! All the hard work was done for me. All I had to do was get the ball down.”
Rowe is still relatively fresh-faced himself but took on veteran status on Saturday as Warriors turned to their former academy kids and Super Series prospects to bolster their numbers with so many players away on international duty or injured. The winger was happy to talk them through it.
“I just tried to impart a bit of wisdom onto them,” he explained. “There were a few boys there who haven’t played pro rugby yet but this was a great test for them. It showed the intensity you need to bring to get a win and they managed to hang on in there.
“You can see they’ve all got something about them so it’s just about building on that week on week. When they go back to their Super Series clubs they just have to try to keep that intensity and they’ll get another shot.”
