Petrie to stay at Glasgow
Scotland forward Jon Petrie is ready to commit the rest of his career to rugby north of the border.
The Glasgow Warriors captain has watched a string of Scotland team-mates - such as Jason White, Sean Lamont and Stuart Moffat – all leave for pastures new in recent years.
The lure of the Guinness Premiership in England and French rugby has proved too strong for some, with the Scottish Rugby Union’s well-publicised debate over the future of the professional game undoubtedly a big factor.
With the cash-strapped governing body admitting public money is needed to ensure the survival of all three professional teams, players face an uncertain future.
But Petrie, who studied French at St Andrews University before taking up full-time rugby, is not about to jump ship – having already had one spell with Colomiers.
He said: “I thought about playing in France again a few years ago – but I think I’ll play out my career in Scotland. I’ve played in France before. It’s a great place to play, with great people, but I’m happy here.”
Petrie admits he and his Scotland team-mates are still harbouring a sense of injustice over their second-Test defeat to South Africa on tour earlier this month.
Coach Frank Hadden was deeply critical of referee Tony Spreadbury after the Englishman disallowed ‘tries’ from Simon Webster and Chris Paterson in the 29-15 defeat.
However, Petrie remains philosophical after watching referees’ performances in the football World Cup in Germany.
He added: “I think there was a sense of injustice at losing the second Test, and it’s not that often that you feel decisions could have cost you the game.
“But as we’ve seen from the football World Cup, the referees can play a huge part in what’s going. Thankfully there weren’t four red cards like (in the Portugal versus Holland game) the other night in Germany.”
