WARRIORS AIM TO USE GANG MENTALITY
THERE have been countless books, films and documentaries devoted to Glasgow gangs, but for them to feature in a rugby team-talk seems somewhat surprising. Yet for Glasgow Warriors defence coach Kenny Murray, there is plenty that can be learned from the gang culture ahead of Sunday’s vital showdown with Cardiff Blues in the Heineken Champions Cup. It’s on home soil for starters, which Murray believes should always bring with it an element of fear for visitors. Although not quite sanctioning his players to dish out the odd Glasgow kiss, he’s under no illusions about what needs to be addressed following successive defeats to Edinburgh and Benetton in the Pro14. ‘One thing we’ve spoken about defensively this year is using this kind of gang mentality,’ said Murray. ‘About teams being scared to come here to Scotstoun. ‘We’re trying to link that to the Glasgow gang mentality about this being our patch and it’s something we’ll talk about when Cardiff come here this weekend. ‘Up until the Edinburgh game, we’d been defending really well at home. But we’ve got to be tougher to beat. ‘We weren’t tough to beat in Treviso and that was the disappointing thing. They didn’t have to work hard for their tries. ‘So we need to take what we learned and move on because this is the biggest game of our season so far. ‘We need to win — and win well — to give ourselves a chance of progressing. It’s about getting some self-belief back.’ One player who could certainly do with regaining his confidence is Adam Hastings. The Warriors fly-half has been distinctly off-colour over the past three games and it remains to be seen if Dave Rennie will stick with him for the visit of Cardiff. Glasgow’s fate is still in their own hands. Currently on 14 points in Pool Three, a win would give them a good chance of progressing as one of the best runners-up, while a bonus-point victory would almost certainly get the job done ahead of a trip to Saracens on the final day. Having your star fly-half so badly out of form is far from ideal, with Murray adding: ‘You’ve got to build him up. The easy thing to do is go in and pick out all the negative things he’s done. ‘You’ve got to pick him up. He’s got to understand what he hasn’t done well and why that’s happened. ‘He just needs to take the feedback he’s getting from the coaches onboard, learn and take it on to the pitch. ‘He’s had a lot of really good games this year. But, at this level, you need to balance your game.’