Warriors get huge Leinster lift from Scotland call-off
Here come the cavalry.
When you’re playing the champions away in a must- win match, any reinforcements you can get are more than welcome – and Glasgow have got a lot for today’s game against Leinster, thanks to the postponement of Scotland’s Six Nations clash with France.
Nine members of Gregor Townsend’s national squad have been released back to Warriors coach Danny Wilson for the PRO14 match in Dublin – a fixture the visitors need to win to keep alive their realistic hopes of a top- three finish in Conference A.
Getting into the top three would mean a place in next season’s Champions Cup, but Glasgow are currently 15 points adrift of third-placed Ospreys.
They have two games in hand on the Welsh side, but time is running out – after Leinster, they only have four matches left.
So the return of the likes of Richie Gray at lock, Adam Hastings at stand- off and Huw Jones and Sam Johnson at centre comes as a massive boost – especially when Leinster have 16 players away on Championship duty with Ireland.
But the Irish province have greater strength-in-depth than any other side in the competition, and with forwards such as Devin Toner, Sean Fardy and Josh van der Flier in the side they have still been able to select a pretty strong line-up.
Even so, Warriors back Robbie Fergusson ( inset) thinks the morale lift of so many players coming from Scotland duty has given his team a real chance of pulling off an upset at the RDS. “It’s obviously tough place go and p l a y, a to and Leinster are a top side – they’re doing really well in the competition, like always,” he said.
“But I think we’ve actually got a really strong side now with what’s happened with Scotland and it’s a real opportunity to upset them, I think. They’re the benchmark and it will be good for us to go and see where we’re at.”
The re c a l l of Jo n e s and Johnson to the midfield means that Fergusson – who was selected last week in the Team GB Sevens training squad for the Tokyo Olympics – drops down to the bench.
But the 27- year- old has taken that in his stride and is looking forward to playing his part in what could be a pivotal game in Glasgow’s season.
“When we heard the Scotland game was in doubt, we knew there was a possibility of the boys coming back,” he added.
“It’s one of these things as professionals we know it can happen.
“Yeah, sometimes it affects your individual situation, but I’ve been fairly lucky in other situations. It boosts the squad to see so many boys coming back