Guest Blogger: A Tale of Two Sevens

Guest blogger and Glasgow fan 'The Pen' on A tale of two Sevens…

Cast your mind back towards the end of last season and the announcement that Simone Favaro would not have his contract renewed at Glasgow Warriors. The news caused some serious shockwaves and upset a large number of the Warrior Nation who had taken the Italian to their hearts as one of their own.

Fast forward to now and the Warriors have a new hero in the black and blue 7 shirt and he is rapidly on the way to gaining the same legend as the man from Treviso…

Favaro was somewhat of an unknown quantity when he joined Glasgow. A flanker with numerous Italian caps was about all many of us knew about him and yet from the minute he took to the field, the fans fell in love with him and his complete disregard for his own body. He threw himself into tackles, eyes trained on the ribs of the opposition receiver and didn’t stop until he’d planted them into the ground. His heart on his sleeve and his love for the game and his job visible for all to see, he took to the Scotstoun faithful as quickly as they did to him and it seemed that a long, love affair was on the cards, cemented when Favaro turned down a chance to play for the Italian squad in the 6 Nations to concentrate on his form, fitness and turning out for the Warriors.

Gregor Townsend once showed a video of Favaro in action at a season ticket holders meeting. It was taken from the Warriors victory over Racing 92 at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park in the Champions Cup. The clip, about a minute or so long, showed Favaro making one of his trademark tackles, flying at an opponent but slowly getting to his feet and holding his own midsection. The clip rolled on and Racing had several phases of possession. Still in immense pain, Favaro can be seen making 3 or 4 more tackles, each time taking longer to get up. As the play rumbles into the 22, he can be seen tackling, jackaling and eventually winning a penalty before collapsing to the artificial turf in agony. Favaro had broken his ribs on the first tackle but his determination was such that was he stuck to his task, got back into the defence, and put his body on the line time and time again until he could do no more. That summed up why we loved him.

So when many of us discovered his contract was not being renewed, we were understandably heartbroken. Simone was completely different off the field from on it. An absolute gentleman, he made time for every single fan. I won’t forget the kind words he had for me when I asked him for a picture with my 3 week old son.

But new coaches have new ideas and Simone was not part of the “Rennie Revolution” and he had his own flanker in mid from his own past…

As coach of Manawatu Turbos in the Mitre 10 Cup, Rennie had Callum Gibbins as his captain. With 60 appearances under his belt and 19 tries, not at all a bad return for a back row, Gibbins was chosen to be in the Hurricanes wider training squad and after 2 years impressing, he signed a full contract with them in 2015 and played in all but one game for them during that season. The emergence of Ardie Savea limited his appearances and he took the decision to come to Glasgow and ply his trade.

While not many may have heard of him, Warriors fans got the chance to see their man in action when he was part of the ‘Canes squad that took on the British and Irish Lions in the summer, scoring a try to top off a tremendous performance. Such was his influence in the squad, he won the “Team man of the year” in the sides end of year awards.

Gibbins in instantly recognisable. Sporting a mullet that wouldn’t look out of place in a 1980’s pop video, Gibbins’s has won many plaudits for his early performances and the way he plays the game. Hard as a coffin nail, the only player who has been able to stop the Kiwi was his own team mate in an accidental collision. The flanker loves to get stuck in at the breakdown and I’ve already lost count of the number of scuffles he’s been involved in. It’s not that he is a dirty player, far from it. He’s had no yellow cards so far and few penalties against him but he loves to get stuck in and get one over on his opposition. He’s an enforcer. He looks after his team mates and he wants to let no one get the better of him. But there is another side to his game.

Gibbins has a tremendous burst of pace for his position. Take the try he helped set up against Munster. His pace helped him break clear of the defence before drawing the remaining defender for Lee Jones to canter over the line. Then there was his second score in Bloemfontein where he kept up with play despite an 80m break to collect the ball and get over the line.

A gentleman off the pitch but a nightmare on it, Gibbins has already put himself in pole position for the player of the year award and become a real fans favourite already and continued the love affair Glasgow have with tough tackling openside flankers. Barclay, Fusaro, Favaro and now Gibbins.

And what of Simone? Picked as the only European in a Barbarians squad to take on the All Blacks, Favaro decided not to take on any of the offers that were made to him when he left Glasgow and has instead joined the Italian police force and is playing for Fiamme Oro, the Italian police force’s side while he takes his police exams. I’m sure that every single Warriors fan will wish him well in his new career but have a tinge of sadness that he isn’t still wearing the black and blue of Glasgow.

There are a few things I know for sure though. Firstly, if Gibbins keeps up his form for his time in Glasgow, he’ll go down in folklore the same way Favaro did. Secondly, the Italian police force has gained a man who will no doubt wear his heart on his sleeve the same way he did every time he took to the rugby field. And thirdly, I wouldn’t want to be the criminal who is unfortunate enough to be tackled by Simone because he’ll hit them like a freight train!

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