An SRU spokesman has claimed Murrayfield approval should be granted for most this week now that Glasgow's new management team have reviewed the playing staff and indicated which players they want to keep. Along with Andy Nicol's retirement, Jason White, Tommy Hayes, Dave Hilton and Cam Blades have already gone, while there is also doubt over the future of Gordon Simpson who is currently on holiday in New Zealand.
James McLaren and Gordon McIlwham are also unsure of how the changes in Glasgow's management will affect their prospects of returning to their former club from Bordeaux-Begles. Both players were linked with a return to Hughenden when Kiwi Searancke was still in charge but McLaren said they were "back to square one" since his sacking.
McLaren acknowledged that he may be the one who finds it easier to move as McIlwham is in the best form of his career. "The club's finances have apparently been sorted out, but, because they've got to cut the budgets, we are renegotiating, so I'm in a position where I could probably go if I found something else. It might be different for Gordon, not because there is a shortage of props in France, but because he has played so well."
A return to Glasgow remains one of McLaren's preferred options, but he said the ball was now firmly in the court of the new coach, Hugh Campbell, and his management team.
"My agent has spoken to a few English clubs but it has been made clear by certain teams that they are looking for players who are not going to the World Cup," he said.
As well as attracting interest from Glasgow, Gordon McIlwham is in contention for a World Cup place. He's in line to help solve Scotland's short-term propping crisis after Tom Smith joined already sidelined Allan Jacobsen in withdrawing from contention for this summer's tour of South Africa.
Smith, a registered epileptic, suffered a broken toe during a seizure and while he, like Jacobsen, should be fit for the World Cup, he will not recover in time to tour. Now McIlwham, whose form earned an A international recall in March, is right back in the frame 12 months after missing Scotland's tour to North America in order to seek work after being released by Glasgow.
"It would be great to be considered for the tour particularly after the way I had to pull out last year," said the 11 times capped prop. "I'd love to go to the World Cup but realistically I don't know how much chance there is of that. Our season ends on May 23 (a week before Scotland head for South Africa) so I should be fully match fit and would be raring to go."