SAYS PAT MacARTHUR AS TESTS GO, THIS GAME’S A MUNSTER
“They will be
coming here
to take us on”
WHEN Munster arrive at Scotstoun for their top- ofthe-table clash this weekend, few Glasgow Warriors players will be relishing the contest as much as Pat MacArthur.
After tasting agonisingly narrow defeats to Toulouse i n the European Rugby Champions Cup in the last fortnight, the 27-year-old hooker is eager for the physical pack battle the Pro12 leaders will provide.
Since Anthony Foley took over as head coach from Rob Penney in February this year, the Irish side have returned to their traditional values wi t h an e mphasis on strong, forward-driven attack.
It is a formula that has seen Munster recover from their 16-15 semi-final defeat to Glasgow in May with a flying start to the current campaign. However, far from being intimidated, MacArthur believes their style suits him down to the ground.
He said: ‘We’re disappointed we haven’t managed to win the two Toulouse games, but now we can look ahead to another massive match against Munster — another top team in Europe — to take them on and see if we can try to get a victory in that game.
‘That excites a player, that’s why you’re playing week in, week out, trying to play in these massive games.
‘Munster talk about going back to their old-school values which means, as a forward, you are excited because hopefully that means it will be a physical, confrontational game.
‘There will be lots of driving mauls, lots of close-contact work, which is exciting for a forward to play against.
‘It’s a massive game. They’re sitting top of the league. They know it’s always been very tight against us, a very close, tough game. So I guess they’ll be coming here with a game plan to take us on at our home stadium.’
This weekend’s battle is also the perfect stage for MacArthur to showcase his talents to Scotland head coach Vern Cotter.
The Irvine-born forward missed out on a call-up to the national set-up for the viagogo Autumn Tests while fellow Warriors hooker Fraser Brown was in the squad for the series against Argentina, the All Blacks and Tonga.
MacArthur is still determined to play at the highest level and, with Glasgow head coach Gregor Townsend starting him in both defeats to Toulouse, is eager for more contests against top sides.
‘You’ve always got motivation to try to play at the top level, to play i nternational r ugby, ’ MacArthur said.
‘To do that, you have to be performing in the big games for your club. Yes, I try to perform every week for my club and always will — and if you do get the chance to perform at a higher level, then you will take that.
‘I love playing in big games, with big crowds against big teams — and all I’ve got to do is focus on performing every time I get the chance.
‘Gregor always says that, with the large squad he has, he will pick the team he believes will win that week. So I just have to take my chances when given them and really push forward from then.
‘I’m playing well and I’m happy with what I’m doing. I am always working on new things, trying to improve so, especially with these big games, I’m thinking solely about Glasgow at the moment.’
Cotter’s recent Scotland squad i ncluded 18 Warriors and MacArthur insisted that the wealth of international experience at Scotstoun has a knock- on effect throughout the club.
‘This is when we talk about the unity and strength of our team,’ he added. ‘You’ve seen this on the pitch — we are a very tight-knit group of boys, and that’s not just the starting 15 or 23, that’s the 40, 50 boys we have downstairs.
‘When we do lose some (players to international duty), it just grows us as a squad and when they come back they’re bringing their experiences to grow the team again, so I think that’s what drives us on.’
Victory this weekend could see Glasgow leapfrog Munster to the top of the Pro12 before the small matter of a festive 1872 Cup double- header against Edinburgh.
Edinburgh No 8 David Denton has already hailed the clashes as their ‘biggest club games of the season’ but MacArthur won’t be drawn in by the hype.
He said: ‘We are very focused. The day after a game we review the previous week’s match, we learn from that and then we look forward to the coming game. That’s very much how we do it. There’s no point looking ahead and missing a game.
‘When we get to Edinburgh week, that will be a massive focus, but we’ve got a huge game this weekend against Munster and that’s very much at the forefront of our minds.’