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1998–99 Glasgow Warriors season

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1998–99 Glasgow Warriors season
Ground(s)Hughenden Stadium
Firhill Stadium
Rubislaw Playing Fields
McDiarmid Park
Bridgehaugh Park
Coach(es)New Zealand Keith Robertson to January 1999
Scotland Richie Dixon from January 1999
Captain(s)Scotland Gordon Bulloch
Most capsScotland Stewart Campbell
Scotland Willie Anderson (13)
Top scorerCook Islands Tommy Hayes (92)
Most triesScotland Shaun Longstaff (4)
League(s)1998–99 Scottish Inter-District Championship
2nd
1st kit
2nd kit

The 1998–99 season is the third in the history of the Glasgow Warriors as a professional side. During this season the young professional side competed as Glasgow Caledonians.

This season saw Glasgow Caledonians compete in the competitions: the Scottish Inter-District Championship and the European Champions Cup, the Heineken Cup - as well as the Welsh Rugby Union's Challenge Cup.

Season Overview

[edit]

This proved to be one of the most turbulent years in the club's existence. The SRU decided to reduce the number of professional teams in Scotland from 4 to 2. Only Glasgow and Edinburgh now remained standing; with Glasgow taking over the Caledonia district – and Edinburgh taking over the Borders district. The fall-out from this caused many professional players to lose their jobs and created managerial problems at Glasgow.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes there were negotiations on trying to get a suitable league structure in place for the two remaining Scottish professional sides.

Merger

[edit]

The SRU announced on 26 March 1998 that they would be halving the number of teams who compete in Europe.[1]

The move stunned almost everyone in Scottish rugby; including Jim Telfer who had little time to prepare a defence of the four districts. Telfer thought about resigning over the move.[2]

What was even more surprising was the two sides ear-marked for closure. Caledonia Reds were the current Scottish Inter-District Championship holders. Border Reivers were based in Scotland's rugby heartland.

The SRU claimed the move was a rugby decision.[3] The fact that last season's top two sides Caledonia Reds and Glasgow Warriors were being merged into one however made most doubt this.

Some clubs - resentful of the districts in Europe – celebrated the decision and saw it as the death-knell of the Scottish districts. The Hawick president Robert Christie said: "We are strongly in favour of this new development. We want clubs to get back to having a meaningful season."[3] Former Grand Slam winning captain - and part of the 'Gang of Four' arguing against districts - David Sole stated: "This proves yet again that to put the focus on districts was an ill-conceived and ill-planned idea which wasn't thought through".[3]

It soon became clear that finance was at the heart of the decision. The Herald ran this story over the closures: "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the prime reason for the SRU cutting their squad from 120 to 60 is to cut costs and appease the clubs"[4] and "they have slashed the so-called budget by dumping players and they'll save nearly a million quid."

It was later announced that 43 players had been cut from the professional clubs.[5] For the Glasgow side it meant that it lost about half its squad to make way for around half of the Caledonia squad.

The Glasgow District now consumed the Caledonia District - and the Edinburgh District took in the Borders District. The new districts were deemed 'Super-districts'. This was an unfortunate name as, at least initially, their play did not merit the term and the reduction of the districts hindered player progression around the country.[2]

New coach

[edit]

It was felt that Robertson struggled with trying to bond the newly merged squad together.[6] For the first time then, the SRU appointed a top name Scottish coach for the professional Glasgow side.[7]

Richie Dixon was the former Scotland boss from 1995 to 1998, with a success rate (50%) at Scotland national level higher than Ian McGeechan (42%) and just slightly below that of Jim Telfer (53.8%).[8] Dixon had quit the national job after Scotland lost a Five Nations warm up match to the fast improving Italian team[9] but it was thought, with his experience, he was best placed to bring the district players together.

Perhaps more importantly to Glasgow, he was a former Glasgow District player and captain in the amateur days of the club.[10] As a player, he won the Scottish Inter-District Championship outright for Glasgow District in 1974. He took over the district as coach in 1983[11] and won the Championship as coach for Glasgow in 1989–90 in an unbeaten season, also beating the touring Fiji national rugby union team. There was no doubting his Glasgow pedigree. He took over Glasgow Caledonians in January 1999.

League structure

[edit]

With only 2 Scottish teams the Scottish Inter-District Championship could not continue in its current form. The restricted 3 game format was kept; however this was deemed a 'tri-series': essentially a best-of-three tournament to determine the winner.

It was felt that only playing 3 games against the same opposition would not help either Glasgow or Edinburgh in their European campaigns.

To try and increase the level of competition available, friendlies were sought as a short term fix while negotiations continued with other Rugby Unions. Pleasingly for the SRU, the Welsh Rugby Union and the Irish Rugby Football Union were meandering their way to a similar conclusion about increasing competitiveness for their own sides. The Scottish district sides faced up to the Irish provinces as part of the friendlies organised for the pre-season. In competitive matches, Glasgow and Edinburgh were also invited sides to take part in this season's Welsh Rugby Union's Challenge Cup. The SRU also organised pre-season friendlies against London Scottish - a member of the Scottish Rugby Union - and their London neighbour Richmond for Glasgow. It also organised friendlies against touring international teams for the clubs.

The Irish Rugby Football Union was against joining a British and Irish league. Thoughts in Wales turned to England. Initially it was thought that the English Rugby Union might be interested in a British league. However their proposals to the Welsh Rugby Union - that 5 Welsh clubs join a two tier English league - showed English contempt for the 'British' plan.[12] The English model was flatly rejected by the WRU. The Wales coach Graham Henry said "It was right to reject this paltry offer. What was proposed wasn't British, just a few Welsh clubs in a predominantly English league which would have been no good to anyone".

The SRU felt the creation of a Celtic League for the Scottish, Irish and Welsh sides was the best way forward.[13] This however didn't happen immediately but the fledgling success of the Scottish sides in the WRU Challenge Cup engendered good relations between Scotland and Wales and paved the way for a Welsh-Scottish League.

Team

[edit]

Coaches

[edit]

Squad

[edit]

Hookers
Scotland Gordon Bulloch
Scotland Chris Docherty
Scotland Kevin McKenzie
Scotland Gavin Scott

Props

Scotland Willie Anderson
Scotland Alan Kittle
Scotland John Manson
Scotland Gordon McIlwham
Scotland Tom Smith

Locks
Scotland Stewart Campbell
Scotland Stuart Grimes
Scotland Guy Perrett
Scotland Rob Wainwright

 

Loose forwards
Scotland Gareth Flockhart
Scotland Gordon Mackay
Scotland Jon Petrie
Scotland John Shaw
Scotland Gordon Simpson
Scotland Martin Waite
Scotland Murray Wallace
Scotland Jason White

Half backs
Scotland Graeme Beveridge
Scotland Derrick Patterson
Scotland Fraser Stott

Stand offs
Cook Islands Tommy Hayes
Scotland Cameron Little
Scotland Chris Paterson
South Africa Luke Smith

 

Centres
Scotland Alan Bulloch
New Zealand Aaron Collins
Scotland Murray Craig
Scotland Ian Jardine
Scotland John Leslie
Scotland Matt McGrandles
Scotland Chris Simmers

Back Three
Scotland James Craig
Scotland Shaun Longstaff
Scotland Glenn Metcalfe
Scotland Derek Stark
Scotland Rowen Shepherd

Academy players

[edit]

Glasgow District Rugby Union once again sent a Glasgow Thistles squad to New Zealand for their development. The young players trained and played in New Zealand in the summer of 1999.[14]

Player statistics

[edit]

During the 1998–99 season, Glasgow have used 35 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and points scored by each player.

Pos. Nation Name Scottish Inter-District Championship Heineken Cup WRU Challenge Cup Total
Apps
(sub)
Tries Points
kicked
Apps
(sub)
Tries Points
kicked
Apps
(sub)
Tries Points
kicked
Apps
(sub)
Total Pts
HK Scotland Gordon Bulloch 1(1) 0 0 6 0 0 2 0 0 9(1) 0
HK Scotland Kevin McKenzie 2(1) 0 0 (1) 0 0 1(1) 0 0 3(3) 0
HK Scotland Gavin Scott 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
PR Scotland Willie Anderson 3 0 0 5(1) 0 0 3(1) 0 0 11(2) 0
PR Scotland Alan Kittle (1) 0 0 1(1) 0 0 0 0 0 1(2) 0
PR Scotland John Manson 0 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0 0 1(1) 0
PR Scotland Gordon McIlwham 1(2) 0 0 2(3) 0 0 4 0 0 7(5) 0
PR Scotland Tom Smith 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
LK Scotland Stewart Campbell 3 0 0 6 0 0 4 0 0 13 0
LK Scotland Stuart Grimes 3 0 0 6 0 0 3 0 0 12 0
LK Scotland Guy Perrett (1) 0 0 (2) 0 0 1 0 0 1(3) 0
LK Scotland Rob Wainwright 1(1) 0 0 4 0 0 2(1) 1 0 7(2) 5
BR Scotland Gareth Flockhart 1(1) 0 0 (2) 0 0 2(2) 0 0 3(5) 0
BR Scotland Gordon Mackay 1 0 0 (1) 0 0 (1) 0 0 1(2) 0
BR Scotland Jon Petrie (1) 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (2) 0
BR Scotland John Shaw 2(1) 0 0 5(1) 0 0 3 1 0 10(2) 5
BR Scotland Gordon Simpson (1) 0 0 2 0 0 2 2 0 4(1) 10
BR Scotland Martin Waite 2 0 0 1(1) 1 0 3(1) 0 0 6(2) 5
BR Scotland Jason White 2 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
SH Scotland Graeme Beveridge 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
SH Scotland Derrick Patterson 0 0 0 1(2) 0 0 1(1) 1 0 2(3) 5
SH Scotland Fraser Stott 3 0 0 5(1) 0 0 2 0 0 10(1) 0
FH Cook Islands Tommy Hayes 3 1 19 5(1) 0 51 2(1) 0 17 10(2) 92
FH South Africa Luke Smith 1 0 3 1(1) 0 8 2 1 11 4(1) 27
CE Scotland Alan Bulloch (1) 0 0 (1) 0 0 3 0 0 3(2) 0
CE New Zealand Aaron Collins 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 2 0 0 2(1) 0
CE Scotland Ian Jardine 2 0 0 4(1) 0 0 4 0 0 10(1) 0
CE Scotland John Leslie 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 3 5
CE Scotland Matt McGrandles 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0
CE Scotland Chris Simmers 1(1) 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 6(1) 5
WG Scotland James Craig 2 0 0 3 2 0 2 0 0 7 10
WG Scotland Shaun Longstaff 2(1) 0 0 4(2) 2 0 2 2 0 8(3) 20
WG Scotland Derek Stark 2(1) 0 0 5(1) 0 0 3 1 0 10(2) 5
FB Scotland Glenn Metcalfe 1 0 0 4 2 0 2 0 0 7 10
FB Scotland Rowen Shepherd 2 1 0 5 2 12 0 0 0 7 27

Staff movements

[edit]

Coaches

[edit]

Personnel In

[edit]

Personnel Out

[edit]

Player movements

[edit]

Academy promotions

[edit]

Glasgow has no formal academy structure as yet, however Glasgow District Rugby Union is continuing to send its most promising youngsters - the Glasgow Thistles - to New Zealand for summer training.

These two players from the 1998 Glasgow Thistles team to go to New Zealand were used as part of the Glasgow squad, though they did not play. They continued to play for their amateur sides when not in use for Glasgow.

Player transfers

[edit]

Competitions

[edit]

Pre-season and friendlies

[edit]

Match 1

[edit]
4 August 1998
Glasgow Caledonians Scotland24–32England Richmond
Try: James Craig
Derrick Patterson
Derek Stark
Con: Tommy Hayes (3)
Pen: Kevin McKenzie
Report
Analysis
Analysis
Try: Spencer Brown (2)
Andy Moore
Laurent Cabannes
Martin Waite
Mel Deane
Con: Jim Hamilton-Smith
Hughenden Stadium
Attendance: 1500

Glasgow Caledonians:G Metcalfe; D Stark, C Simmers, I Jardine, J Craig; T Hayes, D Patterson; T Smith, K McKenzie, A Kittle, S Campbell, G Perrett, G Flockhart, M Waite, G Simpson. Replacements (all used) – F Stott, M Craig, R Kerr, G McIlwham, W Anderson, G Scott, J Shaw, J Manson.
Richmond: M Pini; N Waine, T Whitford, M Deane, S Brown; A Davies, A Moore; D McFarland, A Cuthbert, J Davies, B Cusack, C Gillies, C Palmer, B Clarke, A Vander. Replacements (all used) – B Shelbourne, D Chapman, M Fitzgerald, M Dixon, J Hamilton-Smith, L Cabannes, R Hutton.

Match 2

[edit]
22 August 1998
London Scottish England29–27[34][35]Scotland Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Mike Watson (2)
Kenny Milligan
Guy Manson-Bishop
Con: McAusland (3)
Pen: McAusland
ReportTry: Stuart Grimes
Glenn Metcalfe
Derek Stark (2)
Con: Rowen Shepherd
Tommy Hayes
Pen: Tommy Hayes
Athletic Ground, Richmond
Attendance: 1200
Referee: T Miller, RFU

London Scottish: I McAusland, K Milligan (J Turnbull 70), R Davies, J Bonney, I McIntyre (E Ramage 42), J Cameron (S Binns 30), G Easterby, P Johnstone (R Bijl 65), D Cummins, P Burnell (C Johnstone 49), E Jones, M Watson( M McAtamney 48), S Fenn (T Davies 38), C Tarbuck (G Manson-Bishop 59), R Hunter.

Glasgow Caledonians: G Metcalfe, S Longstaff (A Bulloch 21), R Shepherd, I Jardine, D Stark, T Hayes (C Simmers 30), F Stott, T Smith (G McIlwham 65), K McKenzie, W Anderson (A Kittle 56), S Grimes, S Campbell, J White, G Simpson, G MacKay (G Flockhart 56).

Match 3

[edit]
28 August 1998
Ulster Ireland32–15Scotland Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Tony McWhirter
Andy Matchett
Con: Simon Mason (2)
Pen: Simon Mason (5)
Drop: David Humphries
Preview
Report
Try: Chris Simmers
Derek Stark
Con: Chris Paterson
Pen: Chris Paterson
Ravenhill
Attendance: 4000
Referee: R. McDowell (Munster).

Ulster: S. Mason; J. Davis, S. McDowell (S. Coulter), M. McCall, J. Cunningham; D. Humphries, A. Matchett; J.Fitzpatrick, A. Clarke (R. Weir), G. Leslie (R. Irwin), M. Rea (M.Blair), G. Longwell, A. Ward, A. McWhirter (C. McCarey )

Glasgow Caledonians: R. Shepherd (A. Collins); A. Bulloch, C.Simmers, I. Jardine, D. Stark; C. Paterson, D. Patterson (F. Stott); G. McIlwham, C. Docherty (T. Smith), A. Kittle (W. Anderson), S. Campbell, G. Perrett (S. Grimes), J. White, G.Flockhart (J. Shaw), G. Simpson.

Match 4

[edit]
4 September 1998
Glasgow Caledonians Scotland28–13Ireland Connacht
Try: James Craig
Derek Stark
Gordon Simpson
Pen: Tommy Hayes (2)
Preview
Preview
Report
Try: Nigel Carolan
Bridgehaugh Park, Stirling
Attendance: 220
Referee: C Rees (England).

Glasgow Caledonians: R Shepherd; D Stark, C Simmers (I Jardine 74 mins), A Collins, J Craig; T Hayes, F Stott; T Smith, K McKenzie, W Anderson (A Kittle 68 mins), S Grimes, G Perrett, J White, J Shaw (G Mackay 72 mins) G Simpson (M Waite 72 mins).

Connacht: W Ruane; R Southam (A Reddan 52 mins), P Duignan, M Murphy, N Carolan; O Cobbe (S Allnutt 40 mins), C McGuinness (D Reddan 32 mins); J Maher, J McVeigh, M Finlay (J Screene 59 mins), G Heaslip, J Duffy, J Casserley, S McEntee (N Culleton 6 mins), I Dillon.

Match 5

[edit]
10 September 1998
Glasgow Caledonians Scotland9–62South Africa South Africa
Pen: Tommy Hayes (3)Preview
Report
Try: Boome
Breyton Paulse (3)
Fleck (2)
Venter
du Toit
van Straaten
Skinstad
Con: van Straaten (6)

Glasgow Caledonians: T Hayes; J Craig, I Jardine, J Leslie, D Stark; L Smith, D Patterson; G McIlwham, K McKenzie, A Kittle, S Campbell, G Perrett, J White, J Shaw, G Mackay.
Replacements - A Bulloch (used), C Simmers, C Little, M Wallace, G Flockhart (used), J Manson, G Scott (used)

South Africa: G du Toit; B Paulse, R Fleck, C Stewart, L Venter; B van Straaten, W Swanepoel; O le Roux, N Drotske, W Meyer, S Boome, J Trystman, C Krige, A Vos, B Skinstadt.
Replacements - D Kayser (used), R Markram (used), C Alcock (used), P Smit, O Nkumane (used), T van der Linde (used)

Match 6

[edit]
18 November 1998
Glasgow Caledonians Scotland15–53Māori people Māori All Blacks
Pen: Tommy Hayes (4)
Drop: Luke Smith
Preview
Report
Reaction
Try: Meeuws
Muir
Ralph
McFarland
Osborne
Kerr
Con: Cashmore (4)
Pen: Cashmore (5)
McDiarmid Park
Referee: Joel Judge (France)

Glasgow Caledonians: T Hayes; J Craig, C Simmers (A Collins 66 min), I Jardine, A Bulloch; L Smith (C Paterson 76 min), C Little; G McIlwham, G Scott, A Kittle (J Manson 67 min), S Campbell, G Perrett, G Flockhart (J Petrie 5 min), J Shaw, G Mackay.

Māori All Blacks: A Cashmore; G Osborne, C Ralph, D Gibson (N Berryman 52 min), J Kerr; R MacDonald (B Reihana 71 min), R Duggan; G Feek (L Lidgard 40 min), J Akurangi (S McFarland 68 min), K Meeuws, J Coe, D Waller, H Makiri (R Ford 75 min), G Marsh, D Muir.

Match 7

[edit]
24 November 1998
Glasgow Caledonians Scotland41–22Fiji Fiji
Try: Alan Kittle
Rob Wainwright
Derek Stark (2)
Con: Luke Smith (3)
Pen: Luke Smith (5)
Preview
Report
Try: Sewabu
A Naituyaga
F Lasagavibau
Con: N Little (2)
Pen: Little
Firhill Stadium
Referee: Gerard Borreani (France).

Glasgow Caledonians: G Metcalfe; D Stark, A Collins, I Jardine, S Longstaff; L Smith (R Shepherd 69 mins), C Little; G McIlwham (J Manson 79 mins), G Scott, A Kittle (W Anderson 64 mins), S Campbell, G Perrett, R Wainwright, G Flockhart (M Waite 60 mins), G Mackay.

Fiji: W Tuisese; I Tikomaimakogai, V Satala, L Koroi (L Little 55 mins), F Lasagavibau; N Little, J Raulini (S Rabaka 59 mins); D Rouse, G Smith, M Taga (N Qoro 66 mins), I Tawake, S Raiwalui, A Naevo, K Sewabu, A Naituyaga.

European Champions Cup

[edit]

The previous year's Scottish Inter-District Championship produced a tight finish and Glasgow were just pipped to first place by Caledonia Reds. The second place achieved in the Scottish Inter-District was enough for Glasgow to be entered in the Heineken Cup for the new season 1997–98.

The pool matches saw Glasgow grouped alongside London Wasps; with former player Kenny Logan now starring for the English side. Logan was to put Glasgow to the sword over the two matches, scoring 3 tries against his old team. Nevertheless, Glasgow did well enough to get out the group and snatch a quarter final play-off place. However they were soundly beaten by the Leicester Tigers and their matches against English opposition showed the gulf of professionalism that then existed between Scotland and England.

teams received in the pool matches:

  • 2 points for a win
  • 1 point for a draw
Key to colours
     Winner of each pool advances to quarter-final stage
     Advance to quarter-final playoffs

Pool 4

[edit]
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff Pts
France Colomiers 6 4 0 2 22 10 12 176 121 55 8
Wales Pontypridd 6 3 0 3 13 16 −3 160 141 19 6
Italy Benetton Treviso 6 3 0 3 13 13 0 142 150 −8 6
Scotland Glasgow Caledonians 6 2 0 4 10 19 −9 121 187 −66 4

Results

[edit]
Round 1
[edit]
20 September 1998
15:00
Glasgow Caledonians Scotland21–43Wales Pontypridd
Try: Glenn Metcalfe
James Craig
Con: Tommy Hayes
Pen: Tommy Hayes (3)
ReportTry: Dafydd James
Geraint O Lewis
Paul John
Geraint Lewis
Con: Neil Jenkins (4)
Pen: Neil Jenkins (5)
Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Nick Cousins (England)
Round 2
[edit]
26 September 1998
20:30
Treviso Italy34–15Scotland Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Leonardo Perziano (2)
Wilhelmus Visser
Con: Francesco Mazzariol (2)
Pen: Francesco Mazzariol (5)
ReportPen: Rowen Shepherd x3
Tommy Hayes
Drop: Rowen Shepherd
Stadio Comunale di Monigo
Attendance: 1,100
Referee: Graham Hughes
Round 3
[edit]
10 October 1998
15:30
Colomiers France34–16Scotland Glasgow Caledonians
Try: David Skrela (2)
Marc Biboulet
Stephane Peysson
Raphaël Bastide
Con: Laurent Labit (3)
Pen: Laurent Labit
ReportTry: Shaun Longstaff
Con: Tommy Hayes
Pen: Tommy Hayes (3)
Stade Selery
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Andrew Watson
Round 4
[edit]
18 October 1998
15:00
Glasgow Caledonians Scotland40–27Italy Treviso
Try: Glenn Metcalfe
Rowen Shepherd (2)
James Craig
Martin Waite
Con: Tommy Hayes (3)
Pen: Tommy Hayes (3)
ReportTry: Ivan Francescato
Wilhelmus Visser
Con: Luca Pavin
Pen: Luca Pavin (5)
Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 2,040
Referee: Gerard Borreani
Round 5
[edit]
1 November 1998
15:00
Glasgow Caledonians Scotland26–17France Colomiers
Try: Chris Simmers
Shaun Longstaff
Con: Luke Smith
Tommy Hayes
Pen: Luke Smith (2)
Tommy Hayes (2)
ReportTry: Jean-Philippe Revallier
Stephane Peysson
Con: Laurent Labit (2)
Pen: Laurent Labit
Firhill Stadium
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Nigel Whitehouse
Round 6
[edit]
7 November 1998
17:30
Pontypridd Wales32–3Scotland Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Dafydd James
Geraint O. Lewis
Dale McIntosh
Con: Neil Jenkins
Pen: Neil Jenkins (5)
ReportPen: Tommy Hayes
Sardis Road
Attendance: 5,500
Referee: Graham Hughes

Scottish Inter-District Championship

[edit]

With the merging of the 4 districts into 2; now only Glasgow and Edinburgh were involved in a championship. Glasgow Caledonians and Edinburgh Reivers then fought it out in a renamed Tri-Series sponsored by Tennents Velvet.

Three matches were played between the clubs. Edinburgh won the series, beating Glasgow 2–1. A league table is shown for completeness. Both teams entered the next year's Heineken Cup.

1998-99 League Table

[edit]
Team P W D L PF PA +/- Pts
Edinburgh Reivers 3 2 0 1 97 32 +65 4
Glasgow Caledonians 3 1 0 2 32 97 -65 2

Results

[edit]
Round 1
[edit]
13 September 1998
Edinburgh Reivers17–19Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Hugh Gilmour
Iain Fairley
Con: Duncan Hodge (2)
Pen: Duncan Hodge
ReportTry: Rowen Shepherd
Con: Tommy Hayes
Pen: Tommy Hayes (4)
Easter Road
Referee: A Watson (Ireland)
Round 2
[edit]
Round 3
[edit]
3 January 1999
Edinburgh Reivers33–3Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Cameron Mather
Duncan Hodge
John Kerr
Con: Duncan Hodge (3)
Pen: Duncan Hodge (4)
ReportPen: Luke Smith
Netherdale
Referee: C Thomas (Wales)

Welsh Rugby Union Challenge Cup

[edit]

Both Glasgow Caledonians and Edinburgh Reivers were invited into the WRU's Challenge Cup; along with the South African provincial sides Northern Bulls and Gauteng Falcons and the Romania national side (in Glasgow's pool) and Natal, the Canada national side and the Georgia national side (in Edinburgh's pool).[36]

The WRU constructed that year's tournament so that 8 Welsh teams are placed in two pools; 4 in each pool. The 4 Welsh sides in each pool then played the invited sides of that pool. The winners of each pool play a final; and the pool runners-up played a third place play-off. Hence Glasgow (and Edinburgh and other invited sides) only played Welsh opposition in their pools.[36]

Depending on results, the invited sides then would only play each other if they qualified out of their pools. Going into their last matches both Glasgow and Edinburgh had a chance to secure their pool runners-up place. This would have meant a Glasgow - Edinburgh play-off in Wales! However Glasgow fell at the last hurdle. Although Edinburgh won their pool runners-up spot they then pulled out of the 3rd place play-off against Bridgend due to their players' exhaustion.[37]

Round 1

[edit]
10 January 1999
Ebbw Vale Wales22–33Scotland Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Hawker
Olsen
Manley
Con: Jason Strange (2)
Pen: Jason Strange
Preview
Report
Try: Derek Stark
John Shaw
Shaun Longstaff
John Leslie
Con: Tommy Hayes (2)
Pen: Tommy Hayes (3)
Referee: G Simmonds (Cardiff)

Round 2

[edit]
27 January 1999
(postponed from 13 January 1999)[38][39][40]
Bridgend Wales10–8Scotland Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Penalty try
Con: Cull
Pen: Cull
Preview
Report
Try: Derrick Patterson
Pen: Luke Smith
Brewery Field
Referee: D Davies (Llandarach)

Round 3

[edit]
22 January 1999
Llanelli Wales21–19Scotland Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Madden
Scott Quinnell
Con: Stephen Jones
Pen: Stephen Jones (3)
ReportTry: Gordon Simpson (2)
Shaun Longstaff
Con: Tommy Hayes (2)
Referee: H Lewis (WRU)

Round 4

[edit]
25 January 1999
Newport Wales7–18Scotland Glasgow Caledonians
Try: Penalty try
Con: Connor
Preview
Report
Report
Try: Rob Wainwright
Luke Smith
Con: Luke Smith
Pen: Luke Smith (2)
Rodney Parade
Referee: Nigel Williams (Wales)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Surprise as SRU cut field in half". Herald Scotland. 27 March 1998.
  2. ^ a b Jim Telfer (2005). Looking back... for once. Mainstream Publishing Company, Limited. ISBN 1-84596-062-9.
  3. ^ a b c "District pruning 'natural progression' There's no SRU-turn claims Paterson". Herald Scotland. 27 March 1998.
  4. ^ "This new 'budget' begs a lot of questions". Herald Scotland. 27 March 1998.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "District cap does not fit six Scotland internationalists. Room left to tempt big names north as 43 players pay the penalty for rugby's contract revolution". Herald Scotland. 16 April 1998.
  6. ^ "Kiwi coach for Glasgow Antipodean triumvirate set to run the show at Hughenden". Herald Scotland. 28 June 2002.
  7. ^ "Dixon takes charge of Reds". HeraldScotland. 23 April 1999. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Rugby: Dixon rated for Scots job". scotsman.com.
  9. ^ "Rugby Union: Dixon opts to jump before he is pushed". The Independent. 30 January 1998. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
  10. ^ "McAslan takes coach route to success". Herald Scotland. 21 August 1993.
  11. ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". google.com.
  12. ^ "End of the line for new league". Herald Scotland. 3 February 1999.
  13. ^ "SRU look to Celtic League despite warnings". Herald Scotland. March 1999.
  14. ^ "Last-gasp effort seals win". Herald Scotland. 26 July 1999.
  15. ^ "Accentuating the positive". scotsman.com.
  16. ^ a b "Falcons swoop in as Vale cancel Reivers". Herald Scotland. 4 August 1998.
  17. ^ "South African stand-off ready to join Caledonians Smith now can belong to dear old Glasgow". Herald Scotland. 15 October 1998.
  18. ^ "Bye-Bye Bevvy". scottishrugby.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  19. ^ "Chalmers set to play a Corker". thefreelibrary.com.
  20. ^ a b "Paterson Euro bid". thefreelibrary.com.
  21. ^ "John Manson". scottishrugby.org. 18 September 2019.
  22. ^ "Glasgow Warriors - Jon Petrie". glasgowwarriors.com.
  23. ^ HighBeam
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