Scotland’s Tom Jordan will leave Glasgow Warriors at the end of the season after agreeing a deal to join Bristol Bears.
The 26-year-old was instrumental in Glasgow’s United Rugby Championship title win last season and has made an impressive step up to the Test arena this month.
He made his international debut off the bench against Fiji and delivered an excellent display on his first Test start against world champions South Africa despite playing out of position at full-back.
Talks between Glasgow and Jordan had been ongoing about extending his stay and looked to be heading towards an agreement before the English Premiership side made their move for the utility back, whose contract at Scotstoun expires in the summer.
“It’s a positive that players are getting offers from other clubs. It’s not so much a positive if players are leaving,” said Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend.
“I know Glasgow will be disappointed to lose someone of Tom’s ability and his versatility. But we have players who play outside of Scotland and perform well for us at national level. I’m sure Tom will continue to grow whatever position he plays next year.
“We’d always heard he was a sponge of learning and wanting to get better playing 10.
“There has been a transformation from someone that looked more like a centre and was a ball carrier to now being someone that understands defences, kicks well and still has that ball-carrying strength.
“We hoped he would be able to play well at full-back if called upon. We didn’t expect him to play full-back during this period but he’s shown what a good rugby player he is. And what a good full-back he is.”
Born in Auckland, Jordan qualifies for Scotland on residency grounds after initially moving to the country to play for Ayrshire Bulls in the now disbanded Super Six.
His form for the Bulls earned him a contract with the Warriors in 2021 and his stock has risen to the point where he is now challenging some of Scotland’s most established attacking players for a place in Gregor Townsend’s match-day squads.
