Time after time we have asked if this is going to be the year in which Glasgow get out of their pool and into the knockout stages. Time after time, the answer has been no
tennis and rugby may not be immediately obvious, but Murray’s career trajectory has come to feel increasingly relevant in recent weeks to Glasgow Warriors’ European campaign. True, the Warriors have a far more modest aim at present than winning a Grand Slam – they are merely bidding to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup for the first time – but the circumstances are certainly similar.
Time after time, we have asked if this is going to be the year in which Glasgow get out of their pool and into the knockout stages. Time after time, the answer has been no.
It has been a dispiriting process for their supporters, and over the years many have no doubt been tempted to think their team was fated never to reach the last eight. Perhaps that was also the feeling when the draw for this year’s pools was made and Glasgow were landed with two former winners, Munster and Leicester, and last year’s runners-up, Racing 92. Nonetheless, with one game to play, Gregor Townsend’s team are within touching distance: any kind of win over Leicester on Saturday and they are there.
The head coach’s painstaking perseverance has been vital in the Warriors’ refusal to admit defeat, but it goes without saying that every member of the squad has had his part to play, by embracing that same combination of self-belief and self-criticism that has served Murray so well.
It is a very difficult balance to achieve, perhaps especially for those players such as Finn Russell who rely on individual inspiration; but it remains vital that they continue to embrace it if they are going to keep up their progress.
And Glasgow, like Murray back in 2012, are getting closer.
Of course, the minute they reach the quarter-finals, the Warriors will set their sights higher. Just as winning his first Olympic title set Murray up for his first Grand Slam win a few weeks later, so overcoming this most awkward of hurdles can inspire them to carry on to higher things.
They played badly against Munster last week but might still have snatched a win at the death. They know they can play a lot better on Saturday – and they know that if they do, they can at last recommence their upward march in Europe after appearing to have stalled for some time. TOMORROW Kevin Ferrie