Josh Strauss signs 3 year deal at Glasgow

First topic message reminder :

Just heard Josh Strauss has signed for Glasgow from the Lions. Impressive signing!

His Dad and his Dad's parents are from scotland so he is half Scottish.

where did u get the info he's half Scottish ?

From the sa forums he is definitely a player v well rated ...

Was he not born in Ayrshire or something? Or was that Mckibbon?

I'm not sure how reliable it is but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Maitland

http://www.scottishrugbyblog.co.uk/2011/12/when-the-tough-get-going-the-going-gets-tough/

Yeah it was McKibbon was born in Glasgow but moved to Australia when he was young.

Maitland has got it on his twitter account that he is half scottish quarter kiwi and quarter samoan.

Majestic83 wrote:he ain't been starting much for the crusaders this season as adam whiteloch was getting the start ahead of him. The rumours going around NZ are that he'll be leaving.

Imagine the potenital backline at the next world cup

9 laidlaw
10 weir
11 visser
12 scott
13 bennett
14 maitland
15 hogg

looks pretty good to me.

Oh jeebus, Maj, fES will have your guts for that one - quick man,

haha, Bennett is going to be ripping it up in the next year or so at senior level, he is playing really well in france this season and has been one of the standout players in the espoirs.

How are you keeping track of him, Majestic? Any video highlights for us?

just been reading the reports on the clermont website and also in the french sports media, l'equipe and those kind of sites.
Most of the video highlights i have seen have been on the clermont website so far.

Glasgow really need to get a quality hooker pronto. MacArthur is out for months and with due respect to Gillies, imho he is far too small . That leaves Hall who may bench for the national team so the cupboard is bare for Glasgow and any injuries would leave us in crisis.

i agree, glasgow definitely need another hooker pretty quickly. If they were going to go for someone scottish the stand out choice for me would be Sean Crombie of Boroughmuir. Was an apprentice at Edinburgh but didn't get kept on, come on leaps and bounds since then though. Was at Newcastle last season i think as injury cover and had been going to join a currie cup team but had visa problems. He would be a great signing and to be honest i think he is better than most of the hookers at edinburgh and glasgow.

Majestic83 wrote:just been reading the reports on the clermont website and also in the french sports media, l'equipe and those kind of sites.
Most of the video highlights i have seen have been on the clermont website so far.

Has he played any senior rugby yet? Made the bench?

Majestic83 wrote:i agree, glasgow definitely need another hooker pretty quickly. If they were going to go for someone scottish the stand out choice for me would be Sean Crombie of Boroughmuir. Was an apprentice at Edinburgh but didn't get kept on, come on leaps and bounds since then though. Was at Newcastle last season i think as injury cover and had been going to join a currie cup team but had visa problems. He would be a great signing and to be honest i think he is better than most of the hookers at edinburgh and glasgow.

+1 Maj - he's an outstanding prospect and hard as nails.

Tongan Prop Ofa Fainga'anuku has signed till the end of the HC pool stages.

Niko Matawalu has been granted a work-permit and will be in Glasgow this week.

Great news on Matawalu, and great timing as well with Cusiter's injury. Pyrgos is nothing more than solid. Matawalu could be a serious asset to Glasgow as they try to up the tempo.

Watched the highlights last night (albeit limited highlights) and was impressed with Horne and Dunbar together in the centres. More to come in that regard hopefully. DTH is a legend, so elusive and none too slow. If only he were Scottish - he and Visser on the wings would cause any team problems.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:Tongan Prop Ofa Fainga'anuku has signed till the end of the HC pool stages.

Niko Matawalu has been granted a work-permit and will be in Glasgow this week.

Thanks Dorothy - Big Ofa (as he should officially be known) is a loosehead so presumably Welsh's injury is not improving.

Here's a highlight real of the big feller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py__QotJBck

It's hard to tell with these reels because more often than not it is fairly sub-standard opposition. Also, if he was that good he would have been snapped up quickly!

He is a big lad though and looks like he'll be a good asset to Glasgow. God knows how these Pacific Islanders are going to cope with winter in Glasgow!

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:Tongan Prop Ofa Fainga'anuku has signed till the end of the HC pool stages.

Niko Matawalu has been granted a work-permit and will be in Glasgow this week.

Good news, Dot - I guess that means the news on Ryan Grant isnt particularly good? With Cus likely out too, we'll need Matawalu as well

RDW_Scotland wrote:It's hard to tell with these reels because more often than not it is fairly sub-standard opposition. Also, if he was that good he would have been snapped up quickly!

He is a big lad though and looks like he'll be a good asset to Glasgow. God knows how these Pacific Islanders are going to cope with winter in Glasgow!

Well, we already know how one of them seems to have dealt with it...

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:Tongan Prop Ofa Fainga'anuku has signed till the end of the HC pool stages.

Niko Matawalu has been granted a work-permit and will be in Glasgow this week.

Good news, Dot - I guess that means the news on Ryan Grant isnt particularly good? With Cus likely out too, we'll need Matawalu as well

Not sure if this means Grant injury is bad or not. Considering the new Props visa is already sorted and the announcement is made, I would guess his signing has been in the pipeline for a couple of weeks.

With Grant going to be involved Scotland (fitness permitting) it makes sense to get some cover in. Certainly until Welsh is back.

How good is the Fijian SH anyway ? Think they should get Colin Gregor back too as the 7s team is utter gash and will still be gash with or without him !

The problem with Budgie is he always thinks he's playing 7's, which kind of hampers him in tight slog fests such as we tend to get into... Can't be running every penalty... That and he's getting old too...