Dunbar signs new Warriors deal until 2019

Glasgow Warriors have received a boost with the news that centre Alex Dunbar has signed a new contract with the club.The Scotland international has put pen-to-paper on a new two-year deal, keeping him at Scotstoun until at least May 2019, which will extend his stay in Glasgow to 10 years.The news is also a boost for Scotland, who kick off their RBS 6 Nations campaign against Ireland at BT Murrayfield this Saturday.Dunbar, who was born in Dumfries and is a product of Annan RFC, has made 94 appearances for Glasgow and has 19 caps for his country.He played for Glasgow at every age-level from U14s to U18s.Dunbar made his debut for the Warriors against Ulster in December 2009, when he was part of the Scottish Rugby Academy system.He has played for Scotland at under-20 and 7s level and made his Scotland A debut against England Saxons at Newcastle in February 2013.The 26-year-old won his first Scotland cap against Samoa in the opening match of the summer tour to South Africa in 2013 and scored his first try for his country the following week against South Africa.This season he has scored crucial tries in the wins away at Racing 92 and Edinburgh.Dunbar, who is in the Scotland squad for the upcoming RBS 6 Nations, is the latest player to commit to the Warriors. Scotland internationals Stuart Hogg, Henry Pyrgos, Adam Ashe, Tim Swinson and Tommy Seymour, along with USA international Greg Peterson have signed new contracts, while Lewis Wynne and Matt Smith have both signed professional deals after coming through the BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy.Speaking to glasgowwarriors.org, Alex Dunbar said: “Glasgow Warriors is a great club and I’m really enjoying my rugby just now, so it was an easy decision when it came around.”Over the last few years I’ve started to get regular game-time and hopefully we can keep improving.”It was a great day down in Leicester, with the smiles on the boys faces and the buzz around the club and it’s been great over the last couple of months, so hopefully we can continue that going forward.”A lot of the senior boys and a lot of the internationalists are staying and obviously with Dave Rennie coming in and Jason (O’Halloran) and Jonathan (Humphreys) coming across the boys are really excited about building towards next year.Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend added: “It’s great news that Alex will be staying in Glasgow for at least another two years.He has worked hard to improve his game – and has come back from some untimely injuries – to become an important player for the club.His ability to play equally well at 12 and 13 has enabled him to strike up effective partnerships with the other centres we have in our squad.”This is another boost for us, with a number of players having already signed up beyond this season.”