Toony: It’s Munster or bust for play-off hopes
AFTER being beaten by Saracens last week in their Champions Cup quarter-final, Glasgow Warriors face another game tonight that amounts to a knockout match: lose to Munster and they will almost certainly wave goodbye to their hopes of getting into the PRO12 play-offs.
The Warriors could in fact win their four remaining games but still fail to get into the top four, so there is no margin of error left.
They need to beat Munster, ideally with a bonus point, win the three games that follow against Zebre, Leinster and Edinburgh – and even then hope that other results go their way if they are to climb two places from their present position of sixth. It is a tall order, but Gregor Townsend believes his team can play a lot better than they did last week in north London.
The Warriors have lost three times to Munster already this season – home and away in Europe as well as at home in the league – but the defeat at Scotstoun was by a single point, and the head coach is convinced his team could have won that one.
“I felt we played really well in the last game against them, and we created chances to score, but we j ust didn’t take them,” Townsend said yesterday.
“So a similar level of intensity and accuracy will put us in a very good position – but that’s easier said than done.
“They’re an excellent team, they’ve got a very good set-piece, and they’ve got a defence that’s very effective. So we’re going to have to make sure we are able to impose our game on them.
“We didn’t do that last week, and as much as that defeat is really frustrating and disappointing, a lot of that was down to me and the preparation.
“In my role as head coach we didn’t get it right, which means we didn’t show a true reflection of ourselves – and that’s what we’ve got to do this weekend.
“We have four games left in the regular season, and as I said before the last two games, we’ll have to win them to be in a chance of making the play-offs. We’ve won our last two and we want to continue that tomorrow.”
Jonny Gray has recovered from the head knock that forced him off in the first half against Saracens, so starts in the second row again alongside Brian Alainu’uese. In fact, the only change in the pack is at tighthead prop, where Sila Puafisi comes in for Zander Fagerson, who has a foot injury.
THERE are two changes in the backs. Ali Price takes over at scrum-half from Henry Pyrgos, and Nick Grigg is at centre instead of Pete Horne.
On the bench, Scott Cummings is the replacement lock, taking over from US international Greg Peterson.
Meanwhile, Singapore has been confirmed as the venue for Townsend’s first match when he takes over as Scotland coach in the summer.
The national team will play Italy there on Saturday, June 10, before playing Australia in Sydney on the 17th then Fiji in Suva on the 24th.
PICTURES of our sporting stars over celebrating their success highlights the fine line between a relaxing, social drink and the misuse of a potent, potentially addictive drug with its all too well known health consequences.
While the life of our top sportsmen and women brings a certain level of stress so does unemployment and redundancy and without the financial reward, not to mention social responsibility that a sports star’s fame brings.
Sport is great fun to take part in and to watch and a great excuse to celebrate success or drown our sorrows in failure.
However, unlike gin and tonic, alcohol and sport do not mix well, even though advertisers might want us to think the opposite.
It is no coincidence that the alcohol industry spends 60 per cent of its television advertising in the USA on sports programmes.
The University of Harvard found over half of college students binge drink when watching sport compared to 40 per cent of non-sports fans.
Maybe the French have got it right with their ban on alcohol advertising in sport, though it is good to see football clubs sponsored by alcohol firms ban such advertising on children’s replica shirts.
Though organised sport has a positive influence on a young person’s use of alcohol (and other social drugs) there still exists a culture in team sports of alcohol use to develop “team spirit” with post-match “bonding” sessions centred on excessive alcohol consumption.
The good news is that attitudes at the top level are changing with little or no alcohol consumed by players during a competition like the World Cup. What are the potential problems associated with drinking and exercising?
Despite what we may think, alcohol is not a stimulant but has a depressant effect on the brain affecting concentration, reaction time, balance and hand-eye coordination – all essential for sporting performance.
In addition, alcohol has a negative effect on strength and power and alters the body’s blood sugar production, resulting in less endurance capacity.
In excess, alcohol will increase heat loss and cause dehydration – hence the bottle of water by the bedside to lessen the hangover!
Interestingly, alcohol increases blood flow, exactly the opposite effect required in soft tissue injury management, thus extending recovery time from injury.
It may also numb the pain of injury, delaying treatment and contribute to the build up of lactic acid in our muscles, resulting in cramps.
Sportsmen who drink to excess are more likely to put on weight, ignore good nutritional practice and fail to stick to their rehabilitation regime.
Most of us who exercise enjoy a drink relaxing with friends, whether we are winners or losers.
If we are serious or want to do our best, we should avoid alcohol for at least 72 hours before sport – longer if part of serious competition.
Alcohol consumption and sport are undeniably linked. Most young people admire our sportsmen and women. Part of their responsibility should be to act as sensible role models.