A time to give and to care...

The Autumn tests are complete for another year with a good showing from our Glasgow Warrior players past and present. It was great to see the support for Doddie and My Name 5 Doddie Foundation (https://www.myname5doddie.co.uk/) raising awareness of and money for MND research.  Next year the Autumn Tests will be in August prior to the World Cup.  Now we are back into the PRO14 with a bang!

It has felt like a while since we had a game at Scotstoun, but it was great to be back and see the boys in action. It was also Niko's 100th appearance as well as D'Arcy Rae's 50th appearance and Ruaridh Jackson's 100th start.  There was a fury of tries by Adam Ashe, Niko Matawalu, Callum Gibbins (Winner of the longest arm stretch to the line), Tommy Seymour, Rory Hughes and Niko Matawalu and as a result Cardiff couldn't match the pace, ferocity or creativity of the Warriors. The second half perhaps wasn't as fluid but what potential the boys have if they put together an 80 minute performance. 

The XVIth Warrior were in full voice supporting the team to keep to fortress Scotstoun and maintain our position at the top of the league. Let’s have more of the same on Saturday as Scarlets come to visit. Hopefully we are in for another strong performance from the boys ahead of rounds 3 & 4 of the Heineken Champions Cup!

As the XVIth Warrior we are also keen to support  initiatives and charities to give and care for others. Here are a few current examples -

• Let's care for the planet by putting our rubbish in the bins rather than leaving it at our feet. There are colour coded bins all around the stadium to make this as simple as possible. See more at  http://www.glasgowwarriors.org/news/18/11/21/warriors-go-green-scotstoun-match-days-%E2%99%BB%EF%B8%8F

• Let's get behind the White Ribbon Campaign by signing the pledge in the clubhouse- “I pledge never to commit, excuse or remain silent about male violence against women.“ See more at https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/

• Lets raise some money for Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity (Official Charity partner of Glasgow Warriors) through our bake sale at the game on Saturday and our quiz night on Monday.  See more at  https://www.glasgowchildrenshospitalcharity.org/

• Let's don those kilts and tartan trews as we celebrate St Andrew's Day

Rugby family reunited and the on field tussle

Round one of the European rugby competition provided lots of drama as the top teams from each league faced each other.  The standard of rugby was high and the PRO14 teams proved competitive.  Looking at Glasgow's pool Cardiff Blues came through against Lyon which sets up round two when Glasgow Warriors and the 16th Warrior head there.  Again there will be a meeting up with Cardiff Blues Supporters as the rugby family come together over rugby, food and drink.

This last Saturday we were reunited with the Sarries Supporters meeting up at Waxy's in Glasgow.  Our friendships continue to grow since the Quarter final when we were welcomed at Mill Hill rugby club, Hendon rugby club and in the ground by both supporters and customer support staff.  Some Sarries fans visited at the end of last season and then again in Northampton at our preseason friendly.  They are like minded people who like watching rugby as well as socialising.  As well as catching up we had a few "games" which were drawn one apiece.

On Sunday we held the first part of our raffle jointly raising money for Rape Crisis Glasgow and the Saracens Sport Foundation. We raffled rugby shirts, a hat and whisky with prize winners from both Glasgow and Sarries.  Thank you to everyone we have raised a total so far of £400. The second half of the raffle will take place when we visits Sarries for our game in January.

After the game the Chairs said a few words and exchanged gifts.  We gave a glass plaque and they gave a photo with the inscription "Rivals for 80 minutes. Friends for life."

 So to the highly anticipated match where we hoped for a free flowing exciting game with tries on both sides.  Sadly that wasn't the game plan of Sarries who came with a full strength team with lots of capped players for England.   They were out to win even if it wasn't pretty and proved costly in terms of injuries. Warriors have blown a bit hot and  cold this season but they certainly responded to being up against a top tier English team and upped their game shown by the stats.  The difference was slowed down rucks, the points from boot,  a foot in touch try and a some baffling decisions by the officials . This resulted in Scotstoun coming alive with the crowd willing the Warriors on.  Not the result we wanted but its onwards and upwards as focus turns to Sunday.  It's also great to see all the Warriors selected for the Scottish squad for the autumn tests.  Let's keep getting behind the team throughout the rest of the season.

Support Fortress Scotstoun

Where is the time going?  It’s back to the cold, wet dark nights at Scotstoun brightened up by the team and supporters.  Let's maintain "Fortress Scotstoun" by being the XVIth Warrior!

Here are some of the ways we do this:  

Charity Support - We held our first raffle of the season with more than £300 raised for Hearts and balls as voted by you. Thank you very much for your generosity!

Player support - It has been exciting to watch the young talent develop especially through the combination of Ali Price and Adam Hastings.  Their daring and creative play makes your jaw drop as they cut through the defence.  

Away Support - Some of our committee made the trip to South Africa for the 2 games against Cheetahs and the Southern Kings.  It may feel a long way to go, however a warm welcome awaits.  It's also less expensive for food and drink at matches.  There was also an opportunity to meet the players as well as see them train while getting a better understanding of the players schedules.

Catch up with us in the Clubhouse as the tales become more embellished as time passes.

Barnet Branch Support- We have built up a great relationship with Saracens supporters through the Saracens Supporters Association.  It all began back in London for the quarter final of the Champions Cup when the thousands who made the trip were made to feel welcome.  We last met up with some of them at the Northampton pre season game. We are looking forward to their visit on the 14th October with a meet up planned at Waxy's on the 13th. See our Facebook page for more information.

Green Support - This season has also seen the start of a campaign to become a Green Stadium as part of the #AlwaysAWarrior community care focus. You will notice that there new green and blue bins situated around the stadium:

Green is for compostable cups

Blue is for plastic bottles and cans

Thanks to our volunteers who helped guide supporters as to what to put in which bin. Let's all do our bit and bin our rubbish continuing the good name of Glasgow Warriors supporters.

Next up ......is round 6 of the PRO14 with one more home game against Zebre before Champions Cup action begins.

Remember .....  to keep updating your PRO14 fantasy league team each week.  Team line ups are posted around Friday lunchtime.  Ross Currie is the committee man to beat at present.

Coming Soon .... we are hoping to launch our 2018 supporter calendar in the next few weeks.  

Back to Scotstoun for 1st home game of the season

Courtesy of Richard Keltie

What a summer we have had, lovely sunny warm weather and a few wins for the warriors as part of the Scotland team summer tour.  The XVIth Warrior was also busy both on social media and behind the scenes providing supporters feedback to Glasgow Warriors and Scottish rugby on Silver Saturday. We are grateful to the Glasgow warriors management, especially Nathan Bombry's in securing a home game against Edinburgh .

The team have been busy preparing for the season ahead with time with the Marines, a visit to Millport, hill sprints, exercise tests, team challenges, etc.  This culminated in two pre season friendlies.  It was brilliant to see almost 6000 supporters in Perth to see a solid win against Harlequins.  A few of us made the trip to Northampton where we made up with Northampton fans and Barnet Branch (Sarries Supporters)  where a good time was had.  Perhaps not the rugby performance we had expected with the team struggling to fire properly with little possession although there were 10 clean line breaks and 3 tries.  However, they put in a great performance up front against Connacht.

The members event was well attended on Monday. An opportunity to be served a cuppa by one of the new players and then to hear about the plans for the coming season. Glasgow Warriors are an ambitious community focused club on and off the pitch.  We were given an insight into the focus on honing skills, on building leadership and decision making.  We ere introduced to the new players and hearing how they are settling in.  The club are also appreciate of their supporters and those who travel to away games with over a hundred making it to Connacht at the weekend.  Some of the committee are travelling to South Africa for the 2 games which is really exciting too.

Courtesy of Richard Keltie

The XVIth Warrior are hard at work preparing for the season ahead too.  There are plans for a raffle at the game on Friday, our one of a kind calendar will be available to pre-order soon.  There is also merchandise for sale in the clubhouse. Later on there will be a quiz night. make sure you don't miss out by joining which is free as some information and offers are by email only.   It will be great to back at Scotstoun on Friday night for our first home game of the season.  The XVIth Warrior will need to be in full voice backing the team as we take on Munster.  They got off to a winning start last weekend and conceded no points against them.  Glasgow Warriors also managed an away win against Connacht through a team performance polished off with a drop goal by Stuart Hogg. 

Finally, we are happy to announce that our friends at Martha's are generously offering XVIth Warrior members a healthy discount of £1.00 off their delicious food: £5.00 instead of £6.00. (Terms & Conditions: to get this great offer, all you need to do is call into the Clubhouse, show your membership card and you will get a ticket which you will hand over as well as showing your membership card to them, when ordering. Only one discount per member. If you have lost your membership card then no problem. Call into the Clubhouse and get a replacement.)

Hope to see you on Friday, we will be in the clubhouse.  Feel  free to contact us through social media on email xvithwarrior@mail.com    Facebook - The XVIth Warrior: Glasgow Warriors Supporters, Twitter @TheXVIthWarrior or   Instagram   xvithwarrior

The XVIth Warrior                            #WeAreWarriors