Full extent of Adam Hastings' injury revealed by Glasgow coach

The 28-year-old sustained a fractured jaw when attempting to tackle Vaea Fifita in the first half of Glasgow’s 17-15 win over the Scarlets on Friday night.

Hastings initially appeared out cold and struggled to get to his feet but he was able to walk off the field and Warriors head coach Fracno Smith was initially optimistic that the diagnosis would be positive. 

The fly-half's issue, however, was worse than initially feared and he underwent surgery at the weekend and he will miss Glasgow’s busy festive season fixture list. His involvement in the Six Nations is also in serious jeopardy as it gets underway in eight weeks.

Asked whether Hastings' injury would keep him sidelined for months rather than weeks, Warriors assistant coach Pete Murchie said: “Yeah, itt was a nasty one. It was pretty clear that it was a nasty one straight away. We didn't fully realise initially that it was the jaw, but it was a huge contact.

“He's a little bit sore but it's obviously good that he’s had the operation. It's a long recovery process so I wish him all the best. It's a nasty injury, so we'll look after him and he'll get the best of care.” 

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The timing couldn’t be much worse for Hastings after returning to Glasgow in the summer from three seasons at Gloucester that were severely impacted by injury. 

The fly-half has spoken openly about his fitness battles and Murchie accepts it will be a bitter pill to swallow at a time when he was establishing himself again as Glasgow’s first choice No.10.

“Yes, it must be incredibly frustrating for him,” Murchie admitted. “It's been a rough couple of years now and he’s obviously had some really bad luck. That's the way it goes sometimes.

“He knows how to recover and I'm sure he'll recover and he'll be back but everyone's gutted for him. He was starting to put together some really nice performances. So it’s incredibly frustrating for him.”

Hasting’ absence will stretch Glasgow’s options at fly-half during a hectic period of the season with the European Champions Cup action getting underway this weekend and the 1872 Cup double-header against Edinburgh on the horizon. 

Tom Jordan will deputise at fly-half with Duncan Weir providing back-up and there’s no indication that Glasgow will look to bring in a temporary replacement for Hastings with Murchie highlighting three alternative options already at the club.

“It's an opportunity for other guys to play a little bit more,” he stated. “We’ve still got TJ and Dunks, Stafford (McDowall) has played there before and the young lads as well who are coming up through - Richie (Simpson) and Matty Urwin. So, we've still got plenty of options there and they'll have to share the load.”

Glasgow returned to action after the international break with a scrappy win over the Scarlets but they’ll welcome back the remainder of their fit Scotland contingent against Sale on Saturday evening, including Sione Tuipulotu.

Many pundits and former players have tipped the Warriors as the dark horses in the Champions Cup after their URC title triumph last season but Murchie isn’t paying attention to their billing.

“I wouldn't know, to be honest because I'm not on social media,” he insisted. “So, I wouldn't know if people are tipping us a lot and I don't know whether the boys are on it. I'm sure some of them are with their profiles and whatnot. But, certainly, from my perspective, no - I'm not aware of anyone talking about us.

(Image: SNS Group)

“I guess it's good that people are talking about us, but you've got to back it up. It doesn't matter what people are saying before a tournament. Talk is cheap, to a certain extent. We've got to deliver, and we know that.”

“Obviously, we played some huge games towards the end of last year, and came through them, especially away from home. So, we know that we're building experience in terms of winning big games. But I still believe that, until you do it, I prefer to talk less around what you could do. There's a difference between could and would.

“We need to do it. I'm not going to give you the headline of, 'we're going to win the European Cup' I prefer that we talk less and deliver more.”

Glasgow’s only home defeat at Scotstoun last season came against English opposition in Northampton in the Champions Cup. Murchie admits that was a lesson for the Warriors about the different challenges they face in Europe, as opposed to the URC.

“In the URC we play against different styles all the time,” he added. “The English have got a slightly different style to the rest of the URC teams, and so do the French. So, I think it's just adapting to that quickly.

“It's probably something we didn't do last year against Northampton. It's probably one of our poorest performances of the season. We need to use that knowledge of playing against different teams week in, week out, and you need to hit the ground running.”