ADULT CHAT LINE
OWEN FARRELL and his England club-mates have been warned that the underdog spirit which freaked them out at Twickenham is back in town.
A fortnight after Scotland mounted the mother of all comebacks to embarrass Eddie Jones’ team, Glasgow take on Saracens for a Champions Cup semi-final place.
And Sean Maitland, the Scotland full-back who plays his club rugby for the English champions, says Glasgow will bring with them a similarly fearless attitude.
“It is knockout rugby, they have nothing to lose,” he said. “Their natural game is to have a crack, their backline are very dangerous and they will chuck the ball around.”
That sounds not unlike a team which recently scored 38 unanswered points to avoid defeat on a ground where they have not won for 36 years.
“What happened in the England game was pretty surreal,” said Maitland. “I am sure everyone was watching it thinking, ‘What the hell is going on?’”
Scotland trailed 31-0, but following halftime words between fly-half
Finn Russell and coach Gregor Townsend, England required a last-gasp converted try to escape with a draw.
“I don’t know what was said between Gregor and Finn in the physio room, supposedly they had a few words,” Maitland added. “But it seemed to work. Finn turned into superman and bloody got man of the match!” Russell left Glasgow for Racing 92 last summer, but there is no shortage of Warrior spirit, with fit-again Lions full-back Stuart Hogg slotting in alongside Scotland team-mates Ali Price and Sam Johnson. Glasgow coach Dave Rennie has already lit the fuse for an explosive contest by accusing Saracens of trying to deceive referees.
The teams had a bust-up (left) when they clashed in a pool match. And former Scotland captain Kelly Brown, now an academy coach at Sarries, reckons Glasgow will come “all guns blazing” to Allianz Park.
“It’ll be an absolute war out there,” said Brown. “It’ll be unbelievably physical.”
Two-time champions Saracens have won all five previous meetings with Glasgow.
They welcome back from injury Maro Itoje, who taunted Glasgow with a mock celebration after they had a try disallowed when the sides met in October.