Fagerson out to put on a spectacle
GLASGOW Warriors No. 8 Matt Fagerson believes that the key to turning around last weekend’s painful 1872 Cup first- leg defeat to Edinburgh when the two sides meet again tomorrow night is for his team to produce some of the attacking flair which used to be a trademark but has been conspicuously absent in recent weeks.
That 10- 7 loss to their intercity rivals on Saturday was derided on all sides for its lack of entertainment value, with victorious head coach Richard Cockerill even stating that he would have been on the phone demanding a refund from broadcasters Premier Sports on the basis of the first 70 minutes had he been a supporter.
A couple of late tries added some respectability to the score- line, but those who sat through it will not easily forget just how uninspiring the whole experience had been.
For his part, Fagerson insists that we shouldn’t underestimate how tough it was out there on the pitch, and he says his team will take confidence from the way they matched their opponents physically. The plan now is for Warriors to add some attacking zip to their game in order to gain revenge on Edinburgh in the second- leg at Scotstoun.
“Maybe it was not a fans’ spectacle but I thought the hits and the ruck- clears were pretty brutal and pretty quick,” said the 22- year- old. “There were definitely a lot of good things to take away and hopefully we can fire some shots in attack this weekend.
“We have a great groundsman at Scotstoun so hopefully he will get it fixed and ready. It is really fast so you will be seeing a lot more of the ball, which is obviously good, and hopefully we can get our hands on it a bit more.
“We’ve got some awesome players out wide, and some brilliant athletes up front as well, like Scott Cummings, George Turner and Tom Gordon. If we can get the ball
shifted into space, then we have a lot of threats.”
Fagerson pointed out that a missed Warriors penalty in front of the posts after half an hour and a thrown- away try with 10 minutes to go provided a 10- point swing towards Edinburgh last week, in a match they won by just three points.
“They didn’t do anything to really stress us,” he reasoned. “So, if we can fire some more shots, get into their territory more, and get our maul going, then hopefully we can make it more of a thriller.”
Glasgow’s sluggish start to the season is well documented, but Fagerson insists that last weekend’s performance proved that progress is being made.
“We are a great attacking team, but we need to be able to exit well and not put ourselves in a hole in our own half,” he explained. “We have worked quite hard on that now, and we are all getting a real sense of the game- plan in our own half.
“The last few weeks – especially after the Exeter game [ which Warriors lost 42- 0] – were pretty harrowing,” he added.
“But it is not that big a change from the team that got to the PRO14 final and the quarter- finals in Europe two years ago, so we can’t be using the excuse of boys leaving because we still have an unbelievable crop of players.
“I just think that we’re maybe not clicking just yet and maybe not understanding the game- plan, but we’re getting there, and it is not due to a lack of effort.”