RORY SCANNELL

Glasgow defeat was a massive let-down

ONE win and one defeat is not the way we wanted to start the season, but the aim is to improve our win percentage tonight when Ospreys arrive in Cork. We had a good win over Cheetahs first up and we were pretty happy with our performance there. Obviously we knew going over to Scotstoun it was going to be a different game and unfortunately at the weekend we weren’t up to scratch for long periods. In the first-half we fell away coming up to half-time and a lot of their scores were down to our errors. They got good gain-line and we found it tough in the set-piece. Our maul attack, maul D and the scrums didn’t go our way either, which robbed us of a real cornerstone of our game. Things got better in the second-half and they only got into our 22 once in the second 40 minutes. Unfortunately against a team like Glasgow, when you’re 20 points down it means you are up against it and are chasing the game. We were all a little annoyed with the performance, especially considering that it had started so well. It was important to keep it tight against them early on and after playing well out of the traps it was only 3-0 after 15 or 20 minutes. But they hit us with three tries in quick succession. Exiting our territory was tough at that stage and they had us pinned in our 22. It might be hard to imagine but we were pretty positive at half time. It was 22-0 but we had a big wind to come at our backs too. We knew we had the ability to get an early score, which would put us straight back in the game. We had the right mentality when we restarted and JJ cut that lead and we felt we were in with a chance, but we didn’t take enough of the scoring opportunities that came our way. Billy Holland is a big leader in our team and when he ends up going off after just 20 minutes it’s tough. Then Neil Cronin going off so soon after was another blow. But I thought the boys that came on made an impact as well. Fineen was very good in the setpiece and Duncan as well, they both helped us come back. Our bench was strong and they came on and did a job. If we’re honest, we still were not patient enough once we got close to their try line – that’s an easy thing to let happen when you’re feeling a little desperate and trying to haul yourself back into a game. We made a few errors at key times, coughed up possession and fell short. It was a mixed bag really... it was disappointing not to at least take a bonus point for our efforts, but we’ve definitely learned from it. We’ve put it behind us and we’re looking ahead to this game now. While he is still finding his feet in new surroundings, Joey Carbery has already made a real impact. Last week he came on early in the second-half and he probably got us going in attack. We didn’t have much front-

While he is still finding his feet in new surroundings, Joey Carbery has made a real impact

foot ball in the first-half but with the pack rolling again, he pulled the strings. He seems to have settled in nicely and it’s good to play alongside him. Having game day on a Friday means yesterday was a light enough session with the captain’s run and one or two pieces of housekeeping to be done too, but Monday morning was where we parked the Warriors game. We did a review of the weekend and, unfortunately, when you lose it’s not as pretty as when you win. We have taken a few things to work on from the Glasgow game and we have looked to put them in place for the Ospreys game. On Tuesday we worked through our defensive shape with JP, which is always a key session in the week’s preparations, and after a recovery day on Wednesday we’re ready for action today. As a team we always enjoy playing in Cork but for me personally it’s always an extra lift to be playing in front of my family and friends. I’m sure it will be no different today and hopefully we can reproduce some of the good stuff we’ve shown in the early weeks of the season. We played a few pre-season matches on the new surface in Irish Independent Park and it was a bit of change. Traditionally the surface there was really good, but having Glasgow on their artificial pitch last week it will be a big help going into this one. The fact that there is also an artificial pitch in UL, and we trained on it for a lot of the second half of last season, means we are well used to it now. It’s great to have it available for training, especially for the forwards for them to be able to work on their scrum height, which is a bit different when playing on it. Ospreys have looked quite good so far. Their summer signings have settled in well by the looks of things and George North has looked sharp too. They have made a few changes in their senior ranks, but Ospreys like to play a good brand of rugby and I’m sure that it will be the same this time around. It should be a good night out for spectators. Meanwhile, there was big excitement in the Scannell house last weekend too because the younger brother, Billy, got his first couple of minutes for the A team against Connacht. He was delighted and they got a good win also. Considering he’s a hooker too, hopefully himself and Niall won’t be fighting for contracts in the next few years. At least he’s not a centre, I suppose!