Shop steward Swinson in for tough shifts ahead GLASGOW WARRIORS
TIM SWINSON may have recently positioned himself as a form of shop steward for Scotland’s professional rugby players, but he could not be accused of over-stating either collective or individual performance in the work place following the recent derby defeats.
His Glasgow Warriors side had been favourites for those matches and the Scotland lock opted for plain-speaking rather than spin in admitting that competent execution of duties would have been sufficient, before acknowledging limitations of his understanding of the finer points of his own specialist area.
“We weren’t beaten by a team that were exceptional, they were just doing exactly what they were supposed to do in the right way,” he said of the Edinburgh side who completed a home-andaway double to ensure that the 1872 Cup remained in the capital for the fourth time in fifth years.
As to claims by head coach Dave Rennie that the methods Edinburgh had used in setting their scrummage platform had been dubious, Swinson admitted to a surprising level of ignorance.
“You guys like to think I know what I am talking about, but I have no idea,” he said. “The scrum seems a bit of an art that no one has a clue what is going on. It didn’t go our way, but we definitely have guys who know what they are talking about in front of me. I just put my head in there and push. Hopefully I’ll get some answers after a tough day at the office.”
What was clear over the past two weekends, though, is that the opponents who know Glasgow best know how to stop them playing, having won eight of their last 10 encounters. And rivals will have taken note.
Of greatest concern is that long-identified problems which seemed remedied this season have reappeared not only against Edinburgh, but against a second-string Lyon side.
Pleasing on the eye as Glasgow’s style of play may be, rugby reality can be bruisingly basic, with those best versed in its dark arts most likely to gain the upper hand.
Whatever means opponents use to gain advantage, if officials take no action, ways must be found to combat them and, as one of those charged with bringing a harder edge to Glasgow’s play, Swinson accepts there are matters to be addressed.
At both set-piece and breakdown, Edinburgh back-rowers Hamish Watson, Jamie Ritchie and Bill Mata had heavily influenced the pace of play.
Naturally, Swinson expressed confidence in his side’s capacity to respond quickly.
“It is our job to fix things,” he said. “You go through it all the time. You get patches where you can’t do anything right, then magically the next week you can do everything right and you don’t know what the worry was all about, but that is rugby. Thankfully we get to deal with it in the week whereas in some sports you have to wait four years so that is the positive.
“We have to focus on the next game. Benetton have been a really good side over the last 12 to 18 months and are well organised with a good quality pack, so it will be a very good test ahead of two games in Europe against two more strong forward packs.”
‘‘ We weren’t beaten by a team that were exceptional