LOME Fa'atau returns to Glasgow's starting line-up tonight with a desire not only to help his side get back into the winning groove, but to prove he can transfer the talent he showed in Super 14 to the Magners League.
The 32-year-old winger joined Glasgow after the World Cup last year, but found the going tough in his first season, stunning supporters and opponents with quick, mazy running on occasions and leaving both underwhelmed on others. In the summer he tol
d Samoa, the land of his father, he was unavailable this season in a bid to concentrate solely on helping Glasgow to domestic honours, and two tries in pre-season suggested he was finding his feet.
Dan Parks has shaken off a thigh knock to retain his fly-half berth against the Scarlets tonight so Fa'atau's return, for Hefin O'Hare, is the only change to the backs from last week. Johnnie Beattie returns in the pack and Stevie Swindall drops out, shifting Kelly Brown back to blindside flanker, and with Eric Milligan and Fergus Thomson both injured Kevin Tkachuk will cover hooker and prop from the bench.
Fa'atau was disappointed both to be dropped last week and for the team to lose away to Connacht, and he is clearly bristling with determination to start making a more significant mark on Glasgow's play.
"I'd like to think I've settled in more now and understand the kind of rugby that is played over here," he said. "I've taken time out from international rugby because I wanted to really concentrate all my time on Glasgow.
"One of the problems last season was arriving after the World Cup and trying to get to understand everything, and settle into a new city and environment, when you're almost halfway through a season.
"I'm definitely enjoying it more this season, having been here from the start and getting the chance to really bond properly with the guys in the pre-season trip to France. I believe I set myself high standards; I expect a lot of myself on the pitch, and I wanted to be able to do what I did in the Super 14 right from the start for Glasgow and when it didn't happen straight away I was frustrated. But the game is different here and wingers don't see the ball as much, especially when the weather's bad, so I had to accept that.
"I've changed and now I'm just keen to get out there and, hopefully, the weather will be good so that we can run the ball about as we did against the Ospreys, but this time when we get on top stay on top, and get our competition back on track."
Turning his back on Samoa was not an easy decision for Fa'atau, even if their 101-14 defeat to the All Blacks earlier this month might have made him glad to be in Scotland. He will miss out on the chance to play for the Pacific Islands in November, but allowed himself a wry smile at Scotland's complaints at trying to pull a squad together this week.
"That is something Samoa have had problems with for years and I can't see a quick fix. It is difficult for Scotland, but they still had 40 players because so many play here. The Samoa team that played the All Blacks only had a quarter of our players available. It is a problem and I'd like to see more support for nations like Samoa, to allow them to compete on a level paying field with the top countries. But I don't see it happening soon."
He quickly broke off to re-iterate that his focus now was not on Samoa, but Glasgow. The flyer is acutely aware of his failure to hit the try-scoring rate he enjoyed in Wellington and is keen to win the support over, but he insisted: "The bottom line is to get out there and do my job and help us win, and if that means me finishing off breaks or giving the pass to others to finish I'm happy.
"There is pressure after losing two games, but it's a matter of picking ourselves up and righting the wrongs of the last two weeks. It's not panic-city, just finishing the good work we're doing and being disciplined."
Regan King is back from the start for the Scarlets, but Kees Meeuws joins fellow Kiwis Deacon Manu, Mahonri Schwalger and Simon Maling on the injured list, alongside Wales wings Dafydd James and Darren Daniels.
Glasgow are hoping to improve their crowd with the offer of four free children's tickets for every adult who pays tonight, as well as a student deal to mark 'Glasgow Freshers Week' where two students get in for the price of one (£10).
Glasgow: B Stortoni; L Fa'atau, M Evans, G Morrison, T Evans; D Parks, M McMillan; J Va'a, D Hall, M Low, O Palepoi, A Kellock (capt), K Brown, J Beattie, J Barclay. Subs: E Kalman, K Tkachuk, D Turner, S Swindall, A Henderson, C Gregor, R Jackson.
Scarlets: C Thomas; M Jones, R King, G Evans, M Stoddart; S Jones (capt), M Roberts; I Thomas, M Rees, P John, L Reed, S MacLeod, D Jones, D Lyons, G Thomas. Subs: A Hopkins, K Owens, V Cooper, N Thomas, S Martens, R Higgitt, J Davies.
Referee: G Clancy (Ireland).
The full article contains 905 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
