Kellock: Departing Warriors will fight until the end

AL KELLOCK has insisted that there is no way the players getting ready to leave Glasgow Warriors at the end of the season will take the foot off the gas as the club strive to retain the Guinness PRO12 title.

Last Friday, a Warriors side shorn of some of its biggest names ripped the guts out of Zebre. Of the 10 tries in the 70-10 triumph, no fewer than seven were scored by men who will be on their way at the end of the month – Leone Nakarawa, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Glenn Bryce and Duncan Weir.

For good measure, Weir, who is moving to Edinburgh along with Bryce, converted all 10.

It may be only natural for people to prepare for a move by beginning to daydream, but Kellock says the environment at Scotstoun will prevent any of the players from making that mistake.

This time last season, former captain Kellock was in a similar position to Nakarawa and the others as he knew he would retire at the season’s end.

It drove him on, though, as the squad secured its first PRO12 crown and he expects standards to be maintained as the team prepare for their last game of the regular season in Connacht on Saturday – a match that will determine whether they have a home semifinal in the play-offs.

“What I have always found when guys are leaving is that there is a legacy involved,” Kellock said. “People want to remember their last three or four weeks for the best of reasons, so there’s never a lack of focus. If anything, it’s the opposite. The players moving on want to drive things forward. They know it’s their last opportunity.