WARNING SIGNS
Price admits Warriors must up their game for Edinburgh clash after Lyon fail to capitalise on second-half slackness
Peering at this glasgow Warriors performance through all manner of hellish weather conditions, it was visible that there may be a few signs of vulnerability. good news, perhaps, for their fiercest rivals.
Seemingly in control with an 18-3 lead at half-time in their Champions Cup tie against the bottom side in Pool 3, Dave rennie’s men eased off to give pointless Lyon hope that a comeback was possible.
The Warriors eventually got the job done. niko Matawalu’s two tries in the opening period — his first coming after 44 seconds — put the hosts in a comfortable position.
But with an Adam Hastings penalty their only score after the break, a failure to secure a bonus point will not have gone unnoticed by the team awaiting them in the clash of all clashes in any season.
edinburgh welcome glasgow to BT Murrayfield for the first leg of the 1872 Cup on Saturday.
After the battles in europe in their respective pools, all eyes turn to the capital for this weekend’s derby clash.
However, despite victory at Scotstoun, glasgow scrum-half Ali Price sees room for improvement to prevent richard Cockerill’s men pouncing on any similar drops in tempo.
‘in the first half, i thought we were outstanding,’ said the 25-year-old. ‘We spoke afterwards about winning the collisions. Maybe towards the middle third of the game — 35-60 minutes — we weren’t doing that and it just shows what can happen.
‘When we don’t win those races and we don’t get quick ball, it is not as easy as flinging it wide because we have some good players.
‘if you are edinburgh watching our performance — especially in the second half — and what Lyon did, by trucking it up, that is something we will have to work on this week.
‘That gives other teams avenues into the game.’
Warriors remain on the right path in this european campaign, sitting four points behind leaders Saracens with two matches left in Pool 3.
However, it was impossible to ignore the mood of a glasgow camp left ruing the chance to earn a bonus point. it was particularly frustrating given Lyon’s etienne Oosthuizen was sent off for a forearm smash on Hastings 11 minutes from full-time.
The added concern for rennie came in the shape of hooker george Turner being stretchered off after a nasty injury — piling on the pain in that position following the news Fraser Brown is ruled out for up to ten weeks after knee surgery.
‘We’ve still got a couple of hookers and we’ve got robbie Smith, a young fella who’s trained a lot with us, so we have got reasonable depth there,’ said the Kiwi.
‘We’ll be hoping we get george back, but he and Fraser are very similar types of hookers, very dynamic and important to us.’
no excuses will be allowed for a lack of focus ahead of Saturday’s game at edinburgh.
After all, these Warriors are on a revenge mission.
‘People here didn’t want to speak about the edinburgh games before the Lyon match,’ said Price. ‘But it is done now, we have our four points and there are no two bigger games in the league season.
‘not just for us in our position in the pool, but edinburgh have a lot to play for in their pool.
‘They are big games for them in terms of where they need to get to.
‘it will be a big week in training. And, yeah, they got the better of us last year.
‘it’s our third trophy. You want to get one over on your rivals because it’s a derby game.
‘There are a lot of match-ups — not just at club level but for country, too. You want to get one over on the opposite number.’
rennie raised eyebrows by making eight changes to the side which were victorious at Lyon last weekend, with scrum-half george Horne dropping out.
For Price, facing a fierce battle for a starting position is a challenge he relishes after he stepped into the action on Saturday.
‘it is bringing out the best in both of us,’ said Price when asked about the competition for places in the team. ‘george finished last year strongly and i lost my place.
‘We’re training together and both getting shots at playing. it is up to Dave as to who gets the nod for each game. All of us work really closely together. ‘it’s bringing the best out of us and the team is playing well, which helps the half-backs. if we’re going forward, and our forward pack is dominant, we get better ball. Our job is much easier, we can challenge more and create.’
GLASGOW — Tries: Matawalu (2). Con: Hastings. Pens: Hastings (3). LYON — Try: Barassi. Con: Doussain. Pen: Doussain.