Bennett looks to leave mark on rival defence this time out
WHEN Mark Bennett cut through an overstretched Edinburgh defence to score the opening points six minutes into the first leg of the 1872 Challenge Cup double-header at Murrayfield, everything was going nicely to plan for Glasgow Warriors.
Yet within another seven minutes, the visitors to Murrayfield were behind and the Scotland centre and his teammates seemed to run out of ideas surprisingly quickly.
In particular, a succession of attempted chips in behind the defence not only failed to gain anything but one of them conceded the possession from which the home team set up the equalising try, then went ahead with the conversion, hinting at a more limited repertoire than the Warriors have previously been given credit for.
If the 22-year-old, long hailed as the most exciting talent Scotland has produced for many years, did not quite say as much, he did admit to being nonplussed at how they reacted.
“It was partly down to the fact that they filled the field so well, so it looked like there wasn’t any space in the front line,” he said.
“We’ve spoken about that this week and that’s not how we play and it’s not Glasgow. It was kind of going away from what we know, which is stupid, especially in such a big game. I don’t know if we were trying to force it too much, especially that early on in the game. We just needed to go at them.”
In saying so, there was acknowledgement of the pressure Glasgow were subjected to by opponents who are seeking to maximise their competitiveness in a different way from the current PRO12 champions.
“I think Edinburgh’s defence is ranked No.1 in the league,” Bennett noted. “They’ve conceded least points so, from that point of view, we knew what was coming, but they just did it bloody well.
“In attack, again, we knew what to expect roughly, but I can’t go any other way than that they played well and I don’t think we were up to the standard.”
For all that their respective league positions and European prospects might suggest otherwise, Bennett believes that the Scottish rivals are at last set to drive one another in the right direction.
“Edinburgh are on the up, they really are,” he insisted. “They’ve got a few great results this season and they’re challenging.”
That said, Bennett still believes that if Glasgow apply their principles properly and perform as they can, they have the weaponry to overcome Edinburgh’s resolve.
“We just need to stick to what we know and resort to our own standards and really try and take the game to them, because that’s when we’re at our best, when we really go for it rather than sitting back and trying to get a feel of the game before we start playing,” he said. “When we really attack teams and stick to our game plan, that’s when Glasgow are at our best. So we really need to just get into that this weekend. We know what’s coming and we need to focus on us from now on in.”
The slight difficulty with that is that Glasgow could not be accused of taking time to adjust to the pace of last weekend’s game, since their best spell was the opening salvo which led to Bennett’s early try.
What ought to be of greatest concern to them is that it was Edinburgh who showed the wherewithal to make the necessary adjustments and take control thereafter.
That they managed to make their defence look as impenetrable as Bennett suggested on the vast Murrayfield pitch could also be seen as a source of concern.
However, Edinburgh now have the dilemma Glasgow had to try, unsuccessfully, to deal with when 10 points up on heading to the capital last year, of seeking to defend a lead in these encounters. Easy as it is to say that they will treat this as a separate match, thoughts can quickly be split between winning it in its own right and feeling they must defend their advantage, which could let their hosts seize the initiative.
All the more so when there is a sense of desperation in the opposition play and the Warriors know that if allowed to generate momentum, they can be hard to stop.
“We need to get a win,” said Bennett. “That’s what really matters is four points in the league table. If we can win and build ourselves into a strong position then yes, we’ll go for the 12 points.”
He was speaking about one match. But the outcome may well indicate how things are likely to go for Glasgow for some time.
Edinburgh have conceded the least points in the league, soweknewwhatwas coming from that point of view, they just did it bloody well