Finn: Warriors have Exeter factor
Win over Cheetahs has given Glasgow spur for Euro clash
FINN RUSSELL last night declared Glasgow Warriors have the momentum to cash in on the Euro zone. The stand-off kicked nine points and was involved in three of the tries that helped secure a key 29-26 Guinness Pro14 victory over the Cheetahs on Friday night in Blom- fontaine. Crucially, he provided the pinpoint kick into the corner for Rob Harley to score the match-winning try, which also secured the bonus point.
The result means Glasgow remain unbeaten at the summit of the Pro14, eight points ahead of defending champions Munster after a perfect start to their league campaign.
And a confident Russell is convinced Dave Rennie’s side have can carry their form into next Saturday’s European Champions Cup clash against Exeter.
The Scotland star said: “It means we’ve now won all of our six games which gives us momentum going into Europe next weekend.
“The Cheetahs are really tough at home, so to grind out a performance like that was amazing for us and g gives us a lot of confidence. ence.
“I saw Rob Harley in the corner, but ut I don’t know if he knew the ball was coming ming or not but I kicked it and had faith in Rob, I knew he’d get et there.
“I didn’t t think about the bonus point during the game. When we got the third try I started to think about it, but the main thing was getting the win.”
CALLUM GIBBINS scored two tries in a Man Man-of-the-Match display and replacementr scrumhalf Hen Henry Pyrgos also got on the scoresheets in Warriors’ first competitive game on South African soil. A And coach Rennie ha hailed the never-saydie spirit his team showedh to keep bat- tling until the end for a deserved win. The New Zealander told glasgowwarriors.org: “It’s tough coming here, it’s a new experience for a lot of our boys playing at altitude.
“We want to play a very quick game and we’re very fit, but so are the Cheetahs and it was a real arm wrestle.
“We always felt if we could hang onto the ball for multiple phases we would put their big men under pressure.
“The Cheetahs put us under a lot of pressure at scrum time and disrupted our line-out, but we expected that as they have some big men up front but we felt if we could hang on to the ball we could put them under pressure. We probably didn’t do that for long enough, but again we’ve been pretty good at finding ways to win and we did that again.
“There is a lot of character in this group and they keep working hard for each other.”
The Warriors will now gear up for the Euro showdown with Exeter at Sandy Park in six days. time.
Rennie added: “It’s been a good week in South Africa, the weather has been nice so it’s been good to train in the heat.
“But recovery is going to be key ahead of next week’s game against Exeter.”