Only wins will do now for wilting Warriors
GLASGOW Warriors are entering must-win territory, starting t onight under the Friday night Rugby Park lights against Munster.
With 10 matches left in the Pro12 season, Gregor Townsend’s men are languishing in eighth place — and are a shadow of their former selves, having already suffered more losses this season than on their march to the title last year.
Hopes of a play- off spot will quickly start to fade if a seventh defeat befalls the Warriors tonight against sixth- placed Munster, marking a dramatic fall from grace after their crowning glory in 2015.
In the last five seasons, clubs have had to gather 66 points on average to make the top four. Glasgow, currently on 30, know they must win at least eight of their 10 remaining games to give themselves a chance.
Two games in hand and four bankers against the bottom three teams, Newport Gwent Dragons, Zebre and Treviso, will help — but tonight is the kind of match that really matters.
Lose to the likes of Munster, Leinster and Ulster during the Six Nations period and the Scots will certainly drop out of the top echelon. And the effects of that could be far reaching.
Simply put, top-class European rugby is a must for Glasgow. Qualifying for the Champions Cup again means finishing in the top six. Or at least above Edinburgh, which will be no mean feat.
With talented players already draining away from Scotstoun, Taqele Naiyaravoro off to the Waratahs and rumours floating around that Leone Nakarawa will jump ship to Racing 92, the only way Glasgow will be able to attract quality replacements is to have that lure of Champions Cup rugby.
Time to start winning again. The dead-rubber European win against Racing aside, Glasgow haven’t tasted victory since December 19 — a run to rival the national side.
Despite that poor record, Peter Murchie, who starts at full-back this evening, says the Warriors will not change their free-flowing style in their desperate bid for points.
‘We are sticking to our principles in terms of how we play the game and getting quick ball,’ he said.
‘That hasn’t changed, we are just trying to improve our execution and make sure we get it right.
‘We have had certain things going well recently but have not put together an 80 minutes.
‘We just need to keep playing the way we do — if conditions are not great you have to adapt a little bit but I would like to think we will play to win and score some tries. When the conditions are bad you do need to play a little more territory. It depends on how the game goes.
‘If the teams are giving you space and loading up the back-field, and have got six back waiting for you to kick, you have to take the space in front of you.
‘That’s how we train, we take the space wherever it is. We need an adaptable game plan and we’ll try to fit it in to how the game turns out.’
The Glasgow ranks are boosted by the return of a smattering of Scotland internationals.
Sean Lamont, fresh from his start against Wales, will play on the left wing, with Duncan Weir back at fly-half.
Gordon Reid and Tim Swinson, neither of whom have had much game time in the Six Nations so far, also start, with Zander Fagerson reprising his Scotland role on the bench.
Head coach Townsend hopes those forwards can add beef to an already solid Glasgow pack.
‘It’s two strong squads,’ he said. ‘Munster and ourselves have been built to play well right throughout the season. They have a strong academy, they have two academy players in their centre and we have two academy players covering hooker tomorrow.
‘There are full internationals in there and we know with the pack they have put out, especially, they are going to be firing into us.
‘We want to build on what we have done as a pack in the last few games. I thought we were very good against Ulster up front, and Ospreys was the same.
‘We have got a good platform to build on and if the weather is not too bad we will look to use the ball as much as we can.’
Having not trained on grass for several months now, Glasgow are used to the 3G surface at Kilmarnock and, while the moving of venue at short notice is not ideal, they will be glad to see a firm pitch on what looks like being a wet night in Ayrshire.
Next season they will have their own artificial pitch but, if they don’t start winning now, Scotstoun will become a far less attractive proposition for players looking to perform at the highest level. GLASGOW: P Murchie, T Naiyaravoro, G Bryce, P Horne, S Lamont, D Weir, A Price, G Reid, J Malcolm, S Puafisi, T Swinson, L Nakarawa, R Harley, C Fusaro, J Strauss (capt). Replacements: C Fenton, J Yanuyanutawa, Z Fagerson, G Peterson, S Favaro, G Hart, F Lyle, R Hughes. Live on Sky Sports 5 (kick-off 7.35pm)