Giant lock aiming to make a big impression for Warriors
Olujare Oguntibeju, the former Scotland Under-20 forward, has been included in the Glasgow Warriors squad for their pre-season match against Zebre in Italy tonight as he looks to continue his comeback from a horrendous knee injury.
Oguntibeju, 22, was out for two years after suffering serious ligament damage against Wales in the 2022 U20 Six Nations. He took his first steps back with Stirling Wolves during last season’s Super Series and then earlier this month was included in Glasgow Warriors’ new senior academy intake for the 2024-25 season.
The 6ft 8in lock forward is one of the beneficiaries of Scottish Rugby’s expanded academy programme which now includes players up to the age of 23. It’s designed to ensure late developers don’t miss out and, in the case of Oguntibeju, it gives him another opportunity to prove himself after a tough couple of seasons.
“I’m excited to see him, very excited to be honest,” said Franco Smith, the Glasgow head coach who is taking a mainly young squad to Parma to play Zebre. “He’s really come on in pre-season. After a long injury he’s had to overcome a lot of physical obstacles and he’s done that, he looks in very good shape. He’s got to adapt to senior rugby still but I’m excited to see what he can bring on Saturday night.”
Oguntibeju, who trained with Glasgow Warriors during the closing stages of last season, played previously for Ealing Trailfinders but took up rugby relatively late. Born in South Africa to Nigerian parents, he qualifies for Scotland after living in Edinburgh for most of his childhood. He attended St Augustine’s High School in the capital and played mainly football in his youth but took up rugby when he returned to South Africa. He said he didn’t play the sport seriously until he was 17 but it quickly became apparent he had the raw materials to do well and he caught the eye of Scotland U20 coach Kenny Murray.
He now has the opportunity to stake a claim with Glasgow who are playing their first match since winning the United Rugby Championship so impressively in June. Smith has left most of his senior internationals at home for the game with Zebre and has named a 30-man squad. “There’s going to be rolling subs,” said Smith. “It’s exactly what it is – a warmup game. There will be 20-minute water breaks so there will be opportunities to give everyone a run. We see this as an extension of the first three weeks of pre-season.
“Duncan Weir is captaining this week but we have a lot of leaders and potential leaders spread throughout. A guy like Alex Samuel is putting his hand up from a lineout perspective, Tom Jordan is in there, Josh Mckay has a specific role from the back, and then there is a young guy like Duncan Munn who has already put his hand up for a lot more responsibility than just participating. He’s captained the junior sides so he's one of the guys we look to maybe even lead the team in the second part of the game.”
Smith has always been alive to the bigger picture in Scottish rugby and on the eve of the new season he has reaffirmed his commitment to bringing young players through for the betterment of all.
“I stated when I started two years ago that there’s a process and we want to build and become as good as we can get,” said the coach.
“But then there’s also the opportunity now to bring a lot of young Scottish players through, like we’re going to try and do this weekend. That’s part of the commitment; we want to grow Scottish rugby and our own player base, make it as competitive as possible in the squad.
“And at the same time, one, we want our players playing better, two, we want our junior players developing, and three, our brand can still be relevant - our playing brand. So yeah, I’m looking forward to the challenge this season.”
While Smith's squad to face Parma has a youthful core it also includes plenty of experience, with the likes of Jamie Bhatti, Henco Venter, Grant Stewart, Jamie Dobie, Sean Kennedy, Jordan, Mckay and Weir.
Asked how he felt Glasgow could improve on last season’s success, the coach called for them to be more clinical.
“There are so many opportunities created in every game,” said Smith. “And that’s not a negative, all teams create it. It’s the team that can make the most of those opportunities that obviously becomes more successful and shows that growth.
“We won’t ever take every one. So if there are 10 opportunities, if we can get to 60 per cent I’ll be really happy. But currently we’re round about three or four out of 10. It still gives you three or four tries, but I still feel for us, with the challenges ahead and the way that other teams are going to approach their game against us, we will need to make even more of those opportunities created.”
Smith also gave an update on Glasgow's long-term injuries and said he doesn’t expect Ollie Smith, Sione Vailanu and JP du Preez to return until December. “They are all more or less in that same bracket, to see if we can have them back around just before Christmas.”
All three sustained serious knee injuries last season.