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September 05, 2008

Warriors can douse Dragons fire

Posted by Editor on September 5, 2008 02:56 PM | One comment | Print | E-mail author

Steve Swindall is back after a knee injury
Glasgow Warriors are set to pull off the great ruck and roll Swindall in Wales tonight when they face Newport Gwent Dragons in their Magners League opener.

And Warriors' flanker Stevie Swindall is confident that the impending battle with the Dragons will prove a hair-raising experience for his mates.

The Glasgow-born powerhouse has been at the butt of jokes from his mates because of his Afro hairdo and is known as Scoop after the New York-based African American rap star Fatman Scoop.

But the 25-year-old is confident Sean Lineen's Warriors can rock the Valleys tonight.

Stevie said in the Evening Times: "The nicknames have got nothing to do with my musical tastes or playing any instruments or anything like that. It's all down to my hair.

"The boys like to have a joke about my Afro and that is why they have nicknamed me Scoop after Fatman Scoop.

"But there is nothing new in that. When I was a kid at Mearns Castle High I was a good head taller than my class mates and the Afro seemed to emphasise that.

"Back then I used to get called Stevie Santana after the rock star so I am used to the jokes."

Swindall is braced for the Dragons to go all-out for victory - but he's backing the Warriors to douse their fire.

He said: "The Dragons are a very physical side and tonight will be really full on and as such we will probably use all our subs at some stage because there will be some big hits going in.

"But this is exactly the type of game you want to be involved in.

"On top of that we turned them over at their place last season for the first time so we know we have it in us to go there and win. That is very important."

The 6ft 3" 17 stone forward will start on the bench tonight after suffering a knee injury on duty with Scotland A' in the Churchill Cup in the summer.

But he is determined to re-claim his starting place and try and force his way into the Scotland Six Nations squad in the New Year.

Swindall said: "It is a bit frustrating to be starting the new season on the bench tonight. Things went pretty well for me last season and I went off to play for Scotland A' on Churchill Cup duty in the summer.

"We made the final there where we went down to a very experienced England side.

"In the process I took a nasty bang to my knee and it has taken longer to clear up than I thought it would.

"That meant that my pre-season has been a bit limited and I was on the bench for our final warm up game against Gloucester last week and I will start there tonight but hopefully get involved at some stage."

Posted by robson on September 15, 2008 09:51 PM | Reply to this comment

To Steve Swindall Impressed by your enthusiasm and commitment
Grace and Nigel

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