{"id":724848,"date":"2026-08-02T19:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T19:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/724848\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T19:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T19:35:08","slug":"scotland-prop-jamie-bhatti-lifts-lid-on-glasgow-warriors-departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/724848\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland prop Jamie Bhatti lifts lid on Glasgow Warriors departure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scotland<\/a> prop Jamie Bhatti has spoken of the \u201cmassive shock\u201d he felt after being told by Glasgow Warriors he would not have the plus-one option in his deal activated.<\/p>\n

In a forthright interview with Scotland Rugby News, the 32-year-old did not hold back on the hurt he felt over the decision as he touched on a particularly difficult period.<\/p>\n

The forward initially revealed that his agent couldn\u2019t get in contact with a club representative in order to get the ball rolling on activating that additional year in his contract.<\/p>\n

However, an encounter at training would then clear up any uncertainty around his future as he was told this was his last season at the United Rugby Championship<\/a> outfit.<\/p>\n

Wanted the plus-one<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t my decision to leave,\u201d Bhatti told the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a plus-one option in my contract and I\u2019d spoken to my agent, like anyone does, just to see what else was out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was still early, clubs weren\u2019t really signing players yet, but I said to him, \u2018Can you get in touch with Glasgow<\/a>? I\u2019d like to take my plus one and do one more year.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point I\u2019d already decided that would probably be it. I\u2019d even said to Franco [Smith] that if I got the plus one I\u2019d do one more season and then retire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018One of the most remarkable stories in South African rugby\u2019 \u2013 Springboks and Bulls prop calls time on professional career<\/a><\/p>\n

But then came the aforementioned issue for Bhatti\u2019s agent in making contact with the club and the prop explained how the news was broken to him and why it was made.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy agent couldn\u2019t get hold of anyone at the club for weeks. Then one day I was doing a [training] session and John Manson came in and said, \u2018Kenny Brown wants to speak to you,’\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI assumed my agent must have finally got through to him. I walked into Kenny\u2019s office and joked, \u2018Am I getting sacked, mate?\u2019 He said, \u2018Take a seat, pal.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cStraight away I thought, \u2018F***.\u2019 He then said, \u2018Aye, actually. We\u2019re not extending you. We\u2019re not taking the plus one.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a massive shock. He explained it wasn\u2019t a Glasgow decision, it was an SRU decision because I wasn\u2019t in the Scotland picture anymore and, based on what I was earning, they weren\u2019t going to extend me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat didn\u2019t really make sense to me because I\u2019d signed that contract during a World Cup, and I\u2019d never been Scotland<\/a>\u2018s first-choice player. The contract reflected where I was at when I signed it, so I didn\u2019t really understand that explanation. But that was it. I knew my plans had changed and I was straight onto the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stayed and played<\/p>\n

Bhatti has since signed a deal with PREM side Bath but is clearly upset with how his departure from the Warriors unfolded, citing a period that he chose club over family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve supported them as a kid,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d been there for years and I\u2019d put everything into that club.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we won the title in 2024, my wife\u2019s dad died on the day of the Munster semi-final. He was a massive part of my life as well. I asked my wife if she wanted me to come home and I would\u2019ve left straight away. But she told me to stay and play.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I stayed. I played one of the biggest games in the club\u2019s history while she was back home going through all of that then a couple of days later we were flying to South Africa, so I wasn\u2019t there for my family either.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think about everything I\u2019d put myself through for that club, every time they needed me, I was there. So, to then be told it was basically a budget decision\u2026 that hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI know rugby\u2019s a business and clubs have to make tough decisions. I understand that. But when people say, \u2018We look after our players,\u2019 then something like that happens, it\u2019s difficult not to feel like none of what you\u2019ve done really matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as it comes down to the numbers, it\u2019s just \u2018see you later\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I felt let down,\u201d Bhatti continued. \u201cI just think it\u2019s easy to say all the right things about looking after players, but when the budget comes into it, that\u2019s what matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I\u2019m reading too much into it, but after playing that many games for the club, it wasn\u2019t nice just being told \u2018You\u2019re not being kept because of the budget\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the first time I\u2019d been told I wasn\u2019t being kept, and that was that. It just wasn\u2019t an easy conversation to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: WRU confirm roadmap to axing one region as Ospreys or Scarlets face cut<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scotland prop Jamie Bhatti has spoken of the \u201cmassive shock\u201d he felt after being told by Glasgow Warriors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[56076,348,50,5903,200,101,56,54,16296,55],"class_list":["post-724848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-glasgow-warriors","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-scotland","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-rugby-championship","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}