The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Warriors open with familiar trip to face champions
Added incentive as Glasgow start campaign away to Connacht
Glasgow are going back to where the dream of retaining their Guinness Pro12 title died, with the memory of the changing room after last year’s semifinal loss the motivating factor.
The Warriors start their 2016-17 campaign today in the same place last season’s ended, Galway Sportsground in Connacht.
It’s actually their third league game in a row at the exposed but noisy ground, where they lost the final regular season match and then the semi-final.
Head coach Gregor Townsend doesn’t believe his team deserved to win either of those games despite the tightness of the scorelines, but has featured less on the tactical aspects than on the feeling that the team had after the defeat.
“I am sure that will provide motivation for the players involved,” he said.
“Our last two games were Connacht so we know what to expect and what worked for us last time and what we need to get better.
“But there are slight unknowns in that it is the first game of the season and Connacht only played one open preseason game.
“But in terms of motivation you start with the champions, a great challenge. We start at the place we lost twice so, we’ll be up for it.”
What Glasgow can take from both those games is the need to react to unexpected circumstances, like Sila Puafisi’s red card in the first game and then the clash of heads early in the second game that saw them lose Finn Russell and Zander Fagerson.
“We didn’t deserve to win either game. We didn’t play to our potential,” said the coach. “But we had those two big incidents. “Something like that might happen again. I hope we are a better team for it happening, and know how we have to get our focus back on what we believe will win us the game.”
Russell is still out of action as a result of that injury, one of a list of players on the treatment table and not considered for the game. Josh Strauss, Adam Ashe, Scott Cummings, Chris Fusaro, Fraser Brown, Lee Jones, Richie Vernon and Nemia Kenatale are the others.
Mark Bennett rejoins the squad next week full-time after time off due to him after the Olympics.
Russell is back on schedule for a return to action, said Townsend.
“He did contact this week for the first time, which is very good news. There was no reaction, except maybe him doing too much,” said Townsend.
“He has trained with the team for about a month but with a pink bib on which means he shouldn’t be going anywhere near contact, but has been pretty confident in that area in his first official return to contact.
“It’s a matter of weeks, and not that many, I would say.”
In the meantime Peter Horne has been chosen at 10 for the opener, which allows Townsend to keep Sam Johnson partnering Alex Dunbar in the centre.
“It is one option we have. Rory and Peter are our two senior 10s, and obviously Peter can play 12 at the highest level,” added the coach.
“Sam has done well there and had some really good games for us last year. He realised that he had to work on his conditioning to play at this level, and he’s done that over the summer.
“His game has evolved, he’s getting more involvements, and defensively he’s done really well. He’s young.”
Both of Glasgow’s co-captains are in the team and will share duties.
“Jonny (Gray) will be the one to meet the ref before the game and toss the coin, but Henry will make points and we hope the referee’s open to listening to them both. This is not unique to us. Edinburgh and Ulster, I have noticed, have co-captains, and it’s common in the southern hemisphere so I am sure that referees will be fine with that.”