Glasgow going in for the kill
McLean back for bid to reach last 16
At the start of this week, Glasgow Warriors posted an article on the various qualification permutations that could arise from their final champions cup game at home to la Rochelle this evening.
turned on its side it would have rivalled the Bayeux tapestry in length. Many of the possible conundrums involved the knockon effect of results elsewhere, and all that before this weekend’s card started to be affected by covid-enforced forfeits and teams being awarded 28-0 wins.
Warriors can avoid all that mental arithmetic and head-scratching simply by winning, ideally with a bonus point. Should they do so, then it would take a set of fairly outlandish scenarios for them to be denied a place in the last 16.
It won’t be easy but on the strength of their performance in the away game in France and their impressive home outing against Exeter chiefs, head coach danny Wilson is not without hope.
He has avoided the urge to make wholesale changes on the back of last week’s embarrassing capitulation at Sandy Park but has welcomed the return of winger Rufus Mclean after two months of what Wilson described as ‘a couple of covid-related issues’.
Wilson concedes this is ‘there or thereabouts’ his strongest starting XV and he will need them to be at their best in what will be an intriguing battle between Glasgow’s desire to play at speed and la Rochelle’s intent to operate at a much slower pace and overwhelm their hosts with sheer power.
‘If we can win and qualify, it will have been a hell of an achievement,’ he said. ‘When we saw we were drawn with la Rochelle and Exeter we thought if we could get two home wins and a losing bonus away then we would be in a position to qualify and we’d have been really pleased with that. It’s all on this last game now, but it’s a home game.
‘Granted, it’s against a very good side, but we’ve only lost one game at home all season, so it’s something we’re excited about.’
Warriors made a decent fist of things at the Stade Marcel deflandre last month before falling to a 20-13 defeat that at least yielded a losing bonus point.
Wilson would take a similar performance on this occasion but knows they must convert any early superiority into points.
‘We performed really well out there,’ he said. ‘But in the first 25 to 30 minutes we didn’t get enough points for all that pressure.
‘If they can get you to play the pace they want to play, then they will overpower you. they are an enormous side.
‘they were very complimentary about us after that game, so they will do their due diligence on how to try to stop us playing.
‘they will go very hard on the breakdown, with huge men that you have to shift. they’ll try to play a slower power game. We want to play fast. that’s no secret. So we’ll see what happens.’
Mclean was named this week in the Scotland squad for the Six nations, so his return to the fray will be welcomed not just by Wilson but by Gregor townsend too, with the opening clash against England just a fortnight away.
‘It’s great to have Rufus back,’ said Wilson. ‘We’ve got a fast track and the weather is looking relatively good for us to go out and play some running rugby.
‘He’s against a very good opposition but he’s had quite a while off now with a number of situations which have meant that he’s not been available.
‘I know that with his selection for Scotland he’s going to want to get a good game under his belt before he goes into that squad. He’s had some brilliant games for us and he’s a real threat, so hopefully he picks up where he left off.’
those who might have expected to have joined Mclean in that squad — oli Kebble, Fraser Brown, Ross thompson and George Horne — have not been too disheartened by their omissions.
‘I don’t think it’s affected morale,’ added Wilson. ‘the boys know they have been playing well for the club. their focus has stayed on this weekend. and if they play well they’re back in that shop window.’
Kick-off: 8pm, Scotstoun Stadium. TV: LIVE on BT Sport 2. Referee: Karl Dickson (England). Glasgow: J McKay; K Steyn, S Tuipulotu, S Johnson, R McLean; R Thompson, A Price; O Kebble, F Brown, Z Fagerson, S Cummings, R Gray, M Fagerson, J Dempsey, R Darge. Replacements: G Turner, J Bhatti, S Berghan, R Wilson, K McDonald, G Horne, D Weir, O Smith.