Pack injuries and Dragons’ physical power not lost on Townsend as Warriors hit road
AFTER a run of fixtures to start the season that could hardly have been tougher, Glasgow Warriors now have what looks like the ideal pair of games to prepare for next month’s Champions Cup campaign.
They would not want to admit as much, but, following back-toback defeats by Cardiff and Ulster, the matches at the Dragons tonight and Zebre next weekend should, conditions permitting, yield nine or ten points.
Still, while the Welsh team and the Italians have a solitary win between them so far in the PRO12, Gregor Townsend is wary of the Dragons’ physical strength, perhaps especially in the light of his injury worries in the pack which see Rob Harley play in the second row and Fraser Brown continue at openside.
“We know how tough it’s going to be at the Dragons,” Townsend said yesterday. “They’ve got a full squad – they rested a few players last week.
“They have a physical brand of rugby, and have one of the best opensides in the league, Nic Cudd. He was ranked second in terms of turnovers behind James Davies last year – he got 30, Davies got 32.”
Brown, who began life in the back row before moving up to hooker, is no mean openside himself, and Townsend has been pleased by the way in which he has readapted. “Last week he was one of our best performers,” the coach said. “He got a defensive award following the game and he worked really hard during it – he ran more than 8000 metres, which was the most for any forward.
“He can play openside really well, and just now with a lot of injuries he’s done a good job. There are a lot of similarities in the modern game between openside and hooker with the way they defend during lineouts, and the dynamism that you see in the modern hooker is again very similar to a 7. Fraser fits that role.”
There are 10 games to go, including tonight’s, before the Warriors play Edinburgh, but Townsend also offered some encouragement to his old Scotland team-mate Duncan Hodge, who became the capital side’s acting head coach earlier this week, and some sympathy to departing coach Alan Solomons.
“I wish Alan very well in the next chapter of his career,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed coaching against him and we’ve had a really good relationship off the field. He’s won the last three as well. We all understand these things happen in rugby. It’s an opportunity now for Duncan.
“He’s really detailed in his preparation. He loves coaching, loves the game, and coming from a stand-off point of view will see things more attacking-wise.”
Asked what advice he would give Hodge, Townsend added: “Be yourself. Be your own personality and follow through on what you believe in. He’s got the knowledge of the game, he wants to do it, so I’m sure he’ll do very well.”