Rory Clegg re-joins Glasgow Warriors from Oyonnax

Rory Clegg spent four months with Glasgow last year

Fly-half Rory Clegg has returned to Glasgow Warriors from French Top 14 club Oyonnax.

The 26-year-old has signed for the Pro12 club until May 2017 and has gone straight into the starting line-up to face Leinster at Scotstoun on Friday.

Clegg said: "I'm over the moon to be back in Glasgow.

"The style of play really suits me and I'm hopeful I can develop further now, because I enjoyed the few months that I was here earlier in the season."

Hannover-born Clegg acted as cover for the Warriors during the Rugby World Cup period last year, scoring 48 points in five appearances.

But after four months at Scotstoun, he moved on to Oyonnax.

Now, with Finn Russell injured, Duncan Weir - who leaves for Edinburgh at the season's end - and Peter Horne involved with Scotland, head coach Gregor Townsend has acted to accelerate Clegg's return.

"We were hoping Oyonnax would be ok with him leaving, and having lost at the weekend it's likely they're going to go down," said Townsend.

"Rory's time in France has been a bit up and down. Two weeks after he joined, they sacked their coach, they've had a lot of changes, players have moved in and out, they've not had a great season.

"He's played in the Champions Cup, I watched him against Saracens and Ulster, but he's not played the last two to three weeks, so he's fresh, put it that way.

"He played realty well for us in the World Cup period. He got into our shape really well; it suited his strengths. He's a good passer, got good awareness of space, and the big key is he's an excellent goal kicker."

Townsend concedes recruiting well, and keeping his more prominent players, are increasingly challenging while the financial muscle of clubs in England's Premiership and the Top 14 of France continues to grow.

The Warriors boss remained tight-lipped on the future of Fijian second-row, Leone Nakarawa, with French media reports linking him to Parisian side Racing 92, despite having a year left on his Glasgow contract.

"When you're up against the French and English teams and their rising salary caps and budgets, recruitment will be tough," he said. "But we have 30 international players in our squad.

"That shows the funding we get, but also that the players want to play here. That's still the first thing - the players want to play in an environment where they will improve, they'll be rewarded for what they do.

"Our players are now noticed, whether they're playing in World Cups, Six Nations or even for us. They do generate interest from other clubs.

"We're delighted we've signed Corey Flynn, an All Black. I never thought we'd be signing All Blacks, or current Australian or South African internationals, because they certainly come with an asking price that Toulon, Racing, Bath, Saracens can match and we can't.

"So we've got to find players that will be very good, that we can afford."