Heading south for salvation
After that Six Nations pain at Twickenham, Warriors trio aim to bounce back in style
HISTORY beckons for Glasgow Warriors as they prepare for their first-ever European quarter-final, against Saracens, on Sunday. Will they secure their most famous victory? Or will there be more Scottish pain south of the border after that 61-21 Six Nations rout by England at Twickenham?
Sportsmail’s NIK SIMON sat down for an exclusive interview with Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Jonny Gray to find out.
SPORTSMAIL: There were 13 Glasgow players and five Saracens players involved in the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham. Will that defeat have much bearing on Sunday?
STUART HOGG: It was dark. We played England at the wrong time. Full credit to them because they were outstanding. They just seemed to…
FINN RUSSELL: Click? HOGG: Yeah, they just tore us apart. We never expected a 40-point difference. They were 13 points up after ten minutes, so we were chasing our tails and the game plan went out the window a wee bit. We were hurting the whole week after. We learnt a lot from that. You sometimes need these games to keep you in check.
RUSSELL: It wasn’t our finest performance but we still scored three tries at Twickenham. Looking on to Saracens, we’ll be better players for that.
HOGG: We’re looking forward to playing on their plastic pitch. We’re used to playing in mud baths so a good track is good. You get your studs in the deck and get some go-forward. It’s hugely important we start well because, like England, they’re a hard team to stop if they get momentum. Owen Farrell kicks goals for fun, so we have to be squeaky clean. It could be a tough day at the office if we don’t start well.
JONNY GRAY: This is a hugely proud moment for the club. I grew up in Glasgow. I watched their games as a boy and then my brother, Richie, came in. I love
representing my home city. Sarries have some world-class players and they put pressure on you.
RUSSELL: They have a lot of Test players but so do we. We’ve got good depth here, as well. They’ve got a lot of experienced foreign guys. There are a few Scottish boys there, too. We’ll send a couple of text messages to (Scotland wing) Seany Maitland!
HOGG: Saracens get out their half really well and they’re clinical in attack. We know what kind of game plan they have. It’s not changed too much over the years. It’s a big opportunity. We’ve never been to this stage of the competition, so it’s all very green for us.
SPORTSMAIL: Has there been much time to switch off since the Six Nations?
RUSSELL: My friend has a cheesecake shop, so I’ve been there for a slice.
HOGG: Just one? I had my second child, Olivia, two weeks ago so I’ve had a bit of family time. RUSSELL: Jonny got engaged! GRAY: No I didn’t (silence). HOGG: He’s raging! SPORTSMAIL: You knocked out Racing 92 and Leicester — winning 43-0 at Welford Road — in the pool stage. Do you now feel on a par with Europe’s heavyweight clubs?
RUSSELL: Everyone was on a real high. We’ve been in that position a few times in the last couple of years and lost. Beating Leicester the way we did was pretty special. We celebrated on the bus back
home. There was a bit of a singsong… led by big Jonny! (laughs)
HOGG: Big Jonny’s the best singer in the squad! You can never shut him up! If you look at the pool we were in — with Munster, too — we were written off early doors. Rightly so… we’ve not done anything special in Europe and we were up against champions. The manner we got through gave us a huge confidence boost. Now we’re ready to go again. It’s a step into the
unknown. We strive towards being the best team in Europe every day. The boys are highly motivated to achieve something extra special.
SPORTSMAIL: How much emphasis do you put on playing an expansive game?
HOGG: It starts with the forwards, doesn’t it? If we get dominance up front, go-forward ball, then we’ve got Finn at 10 who can do what he wants.
RUSSELL: The big boys do all the
hard yards and the backs reap the rewards.
HOGG: If we score tries, we always celebrate with the forwards. They love it just as much as we do. With good lineout ball and good scrum ball, we can carve up. The forwards are always quick to tell us when we’ve done something wrong, too!
RUSSELL: They let you know if you’ve kicked it out on the full! HOGG: We’re scared of that. GRAY: We keep them in check. Gregor Townsend invited Kenny Dalglish in to training at Scotstoun recently. What advice did you take on board.
RUSSELL: Gregor’s quite big on things like that. Judy Murray and Gordon Strachan have been in, too. We had a video message from Sir Alex Ferguson last year.
HOGG: Yeah, he said: ‘Don’t play the occasion, play the game’. Looking at Saracens, it’s our first
quarter-final in Europe, so that really applies.
SPORTSMAIL: It’s Gregor’s long farewell before he takes over from Vern Cotter as Scotland coach at the end of the season. How does his departure affect your mindset?
HOGG: Gregor’s very similar to Vern. It’s not about him, it’s about the team. We sent Vern off with three wins from five and he was pretty chuffed with that. He’s fully focused on achieving something special and we would like to do that as players, too. If we can do that, Gregor will get the perfect send off. He’s built up this club to what it is — we won the league, qualified in Europe. We want to send him off on a high. He’s a really openminded coach. For me, it has been good having him here as an ex-No10. He’s good to bounce ideas off and I’m sure he’ll bring a few new ideas to the Scotland team, but we want to give him a good send-off here first. SPORTSMAIL: There’s also the carrot of Lions selection. No Scotsman has started a Lions Test since Tom Smith against Australia in 2001. Could this finally be the year?
RUSSELL: No pressure, Hoggy! HOGG: For me and everyone at Glasgow, we are just concentrating on our next job. There’s a lot of rugby still to be played. We want to achieve something special here.