We’ve closed the gap and will end RDS hoodoo insists Fusaro
CHRIS FUSARO insists the Glasgow Warriors squad have no psychological hang-ups about having to take on Leinster in their own backyard when the teams contest the RaboDirect Pro12 Final on Saturday.
The Scottish team have managed only one win in 17 visits to the RDS Arena during the professional era, but Fusaro reckons the character of his team’s performances at the venue in recent seasons is more important than the final outcome of those matches, as they look for inspiration to become the first Scottish pro team to win a meaningful piece of silverware.
‘I didn’t play in the game but watching them play Leinster over there, that was a performance where we should have won and was probably a turning point in terms of our season,’ he said.
‘Our performance and execution was better than it had been all year.
‘The margins have got smaller and smaller the last few times we’ve played them, so that gives you more fuel because if you lose a couple of close ones, then you feel you’re due one.’
Up until that Leinster game, the Warriors had been grinding out results, but they have been on fire ever since. They have now won nine games on the bounce and scored an impressive 30 tries in the process.
But play-off rugby is very different from league matches, with Fusaro admitting that the semi-final against Munster was the toughest and most intense club game he had ever been involved in.
And he knows that things are only going to get harder next weekend, especially as he is the team’s principal fetcher on
the open-side flank, which means he will have an absolutely critical role to play in dictating the pattern of the game.
The breakdown is key and players like Fusaro — when they are on form and doing their job well — are worth their weight in gold.
He had a tough evening in the semifinal when his opposite number Sean Dougall was a magnificent nuisance all night long, but Fusaro is bullish about bouncing back in the Final. And there is absolutely no doubt that the 24-year-old will have to be at his very best because Sean O’Brien, who was the Lions openside for their series clinching 41-16 win over Australia last summer, is back for Leinster after a shoulder injury.
‘In the first 20-30 minutes we forced it a bit (against Munster) in terms of giving 50-50 offloads and we weren’t as quick to the breakdown as we should be but I think it’s something we can fix,’ insisted Fusaro. ‘It’s something we know we can cope with if we get our game right.’