HEROES WELCOME
How Glasgow coach Townsend will handle return of his star men
THERE was no hiding the difference that an injection of international quality made to Glasgow’ s crucial Guinness PRO12 win over Ulster on Friday night. Gregor Townsend admitted, however, that it was only after seeing his star men producing the goods in training that he decided to pitch the Scotland regulars straight back into club action.
Such is the physical toll extracted in modern Test matches that it has become the norm for internationals to be given a week off after a Six Nations, and Townsend was mindful he might have to rest some of Vern Cotter’s leading Glasgow quartet — Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour and Jonny Gray.
‘It’s not easy and there is no exact science to working out how many internationals you drop back in,’ explained the coach. ‘I wasn’t sure if they’d all come back but training last week was of such a high quality and they were all desperate to play. I thought we’d go with it.
‘In the first quarter I was thinking of that quote “no plan survives contact with the enemy” because the quality of our training had been so good, and then Ulster came and posed different problems. But the players are more confident when they see things going well at training; they see the skills of players who have come back, guys like Stuart, Finn, Tommy and Jonny, which raises everything, and they adjust.’
Edinburgh coach Alan Solomons admitted he cannot expect Ross Ford, Alasdair Dickinson and WP Nel to perform at their optimum against the Dragons today after a run of five hugely intense Tests in the past seven weeks, but he insisted he had no choice but to restore them to his side as they fight to win every remaining game to secure a top-six finish and a place in next season’s European Champions Cup. Anything less will be considered a failure.
For the Warriors, defeat to Ulster would have left the defending champions teetering on the edge of missing their minimum requirement — the PRO12 play-offs. With Ulster stealing a march early in the first half, and repeating the trick with a sly, quick lineout try by Stuart McCloskey early in the second, at 17-9 down Glasgow were in dire need of something special heading towards the final quarter.
Hogg, Russell and Seymour produced it. The full-back, and ‘Player of the 2016 Six Nations’, took on the Ulster defence wide left and won a frantic chip-andchase to the line.
Then Russell delivered a sublime crossfield kick to bring Seymour sprinting full pelt onto the ball wide right and leave defenders clutching at air on a 40-metre run for a try that put the hosts in front.
After missing the Ireland game as he recovered from concussion, Russell’s goalkicking was rusty but he secured the win with his fourth penalty and Hogg — confidence unaffected by an early spell in the sin bin — denied Ulster a bonus point that could be crucial in the play-off race, with a
booming 55-metre penalty at the finish.
There was more to turning the game than merely that trio, however. It was benched Test performer Duncan Weir, Townsend revealed, who spotted the space behind Ulster’s defence and suggested at half-time that Russell kick for it, while field position for both tries was garnered by a pack courageously led by Gray, still nursing the pectoral tear — ‘it’s just a wee one’ according to the lock — that ruled him out of Scotland’s finale in Ireland. But that star quality was crucial to the execution and ultimate victory.
‘That is what they bring,’ added Townsend. ‘I can understand the difficulties for Alan at Edinburgh because there is a difference between the (physical toll taken on the) front five and the backs.
‘I’m not sure Jonny would have played for us had he played in the last two games for Scotland. Him not playing against Ireland was a bonus for us. You can’t overestimate how tough Test match rugby is now, and Tommy and Stuart are not going to play another two or three games in a row.’
Hogg and Seymour will be afforded rests despite vital games in the coming weeks, as Glasgow head for Italy and back-to-back meetings with Treviso and Zebre, and a week’s training in the warm Italian sunshine in between. Townsend admitted he has a delicate balance to strike as he seeks victory in every match as well as remoulding a team capable of regaining the title.
‘We’re staying for a week in Italy because it’s cheaper than flying back apparently, but it will be great for us to have more time training together,’ added Townsend.
With pre-season and the first two months clashing with the World Cup, this campaign was always going to be a major test for Glasgow as they grasp the traditional challenges faced by Leinster and Munster of competing for honours without star attractions.
Seymour would have expected to grab his first try long before the end of March. However, he is hoping the score and win, which lifted Glasgow level with Ulster in fifth place with a game in hand and, crucially, two points off third-placed Scarlets, is a catalyst for a tough run-in. Glasgow will face trips to Scarlets and leaders Connacht, Treviso and Zebre, as well as the latter back at Scotstoun.
‘We knew it was going to be tough but these are the games you want to be involved in — real crunch matches,’ said the winger. ‘I hadn’t managed to dot down a try for Glasgow, so that was number one in my priority list and to try to help us kick on in the rest of the season.
‘I’m not so sure it (the try) was the swinging factor; I think Hoggy’s was maybe the real catalyst for us. Finn kicked his penalties incredibly well and kept us ticking over, and then Hoggy had another piece of brilliance at the end to deny them a bonus point.
‘We (the Scotland players) were definitely feeling it, but the guys already here have been slogging it out and playing incredibly tough games, too. A bit of tiredness in the legs will happen, but the adrenaline, the home crowd, playing in a game like that, drives you on. What you’re lacking in the legs can be made up for in that desire to push on for a home win.’