Matthews eyes momentum as
JOHNNY MATTHEWS believes Glasgow Warriors have restored some much-needed confidence and momentum into their season ahead of the run-in.
Hooker Matthews was the hat-trick hero in Friday night’s 40-12 victory over whipping boys Zebre in the United Rugby Championship.
The win cements Glasgow’s place in the top four as they chase a top-four slot and a home quarter-final in the play-offs.
They now have three games remaining in the regular season of the URC — away trips to South Africa to face the Stormers and the Bulls, as well as a derby against Edinburgh at Murrayfield.
Matthews was delighted to bounce back from last week’s second-half collapse against Cardiff Blues — and insists the triumph over Zebre can get their season back on track. Remarkably, with eight tries in all competitions this season, Matthews is now Glasgow’s top scorer.
All three of his scores on Friday night were almost identical from lineout mauls.
Laughing as he was informed of his status as top scorer, he quipped: ‘Don’t sound so surprised!
‘If we keep on getting in those kind of positions, I’m happy to be the one who gets the glory.
‘I’ve scored a hat-trick for Boroughmuir before. As a team, we put ourselves in some really good positions.
‘I don’t know how many times we put ourselves in the corner, it must have been six or seven. I think five tries
came off the back of that. That’s fantastic as a team to take advantage of that.
‘It was something that we had looked at coming into the game. Those long drives with the maul, we knew Zebre can sometimes become a bit fractured.
‘Rob Harley did a great job of steering it towards the line, making it easy for me to score.
‘We were really disappointed last week with how we finished the game against Cardiff. So to get some momentum back was great.
‘We know we’re good at home. But we’ve got three massive away games in the URC and maybe one in Europe as well, so we need to transfer that form.’
On a night when the Scotstoun crowd potentially bid farewell to Warriors stalwart Rob Harley, Matthews was pleased to give him a victorious send-off.
The club’s all-time record appearance holder, Harley announced earlier this week that he will leave his boyhood club at the end of the season after 12 years of service.
Matthews added: ‘It was typical of Rob, he was saying it was all about the team and not about him. He doesn’t like people making a fuss over him. I think he was actually starting to get fed-up with it.
‘Obviously everyone saw the thing with the ginger wigs. I think he found that pretty funny.
‘Like I say, he probably hates all the fuss being made over him. But as a club, it’s only right because he’s been such a great servant and a legend for Glasgow.
‘We wanted five points and to get the result for Rob since it could be his last home game, so that spurred us on a little bit extra.’