Glasgow 17 – 9 Ulster
Confidence is a complex entity to understand. It can convince others of your worth and it can take you to places few thought you could go. Glasgow Warriors are dripping with confidence and on a sodden night at Firhill they beat Ulster with little more than a handful of passes and a try.
Sunday, Muggy Sunday. Scotland was catching its breath. An unfancied Edinburgh side had nipped into London and nicked a result over Irish, the day before, winning it after trading blows for 80 minutes. Few would have expected an unprecedented double over English sides, even if something similar happened in Italy the week before.
Glasgow keep on stringing wins together, though, and their 26-21 guerrilla victory here was an emotional one.
When the first European weekend comes around it normally serves as the perfect time to kick back and forget it all. Those lovely, fluffy ERC guys even delayed the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup by a few weeks so that World Cup heroes were well rested and ready to reaffirm themselves as fan favourites. We should all be able to throw our cares away, partake in the oncoming feast of Northern Hemisphere rugby and thank our sporting stars for giving us the joys of Union…
Of course forgetting about it all is easier said than done.
On Friday night at Murrayfield the capital side swapped the lead with Leinster seven times. In a free and easy game where tackling was not at a premium it was the hand-over that was evident. You attack; then we’ll attack. You get a head start; then we will cover, and recover. They lost by 8 points, 28-36.
This morning I was fixed with a smile and told “I’m a pretty positive sort of guy.”
Over a plate of biscuits Sean Lineen assured me of Glasgow’s focus and of his renewed passion for the game on the west coast. Last season the Warriors finished in a lowly 11th place and there was talk of the head coach being courted by Aviva Premiership outfit Bath. This time round, though, the former Scotland centre is looking to rebuild and get the best out of a young team.
After Friday night’s 28-14 loss at Ravenhill it was a case of: we’ve started, but must do better.
Warriors centre and senior player Rob Dewey has written an open leter to fans about the beginning of the new season and the goals that the lads at Scotstoun have set themselves…
I’ll let the man do the talking himself:
Some press releases can be taken out of a clichéd handbook. “This preseason is the best we’ve ever had/we’re the fittest we’ve ever been/the new signings have created a real buzz around the place!”
Starting his 5th season as Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Sean Lineen has heard and said these several times. Now, though, he must know that he has this season, and this season alone, to try and turn things around after last term’s near disastrous plummet to the foot of the Magners League.
In which Rory takes a look at the opening weeks of next season’s Heineken Cup fixtures. With Sean Lineen looking to prove his underperforming squad has not been destroyed by further departures, and Michael Bradley looking to make an instant impact at the helm of Edinburgh, it should make an interesting return to high intensity rugby following all the World Cup madness.
At the weekend I spent a lot of time with a good friend of mine who is almost exclusively obsessed with his image. He likes to control what people see in him.
For rugby teams this can also be true.
What do you mean we haven’t rounded up last season yet? Okay, we are working on it! The rugby world has of course already moved on, with several squads already back in training and the draw for the next season’s Heineken Cup announced today.
Last night, at the RDS in Dublin, youngster Mark Bennett started his first pro game at the age of 18.
In modern British sport there is the running joke that there is no loyalty anymore. “It’s not like the good old days when a player kissed his badge and did genuinely love his club”. Yeah, the good old days. Men where men, fights were allowed, divorce was uncommon and players had a club for life.
In contemporary sport, though, with its bonuses and image rights contracts, is there a reward for loyalty?
Before we focus completely on ‘The Italian Job’ (yeah, you’re gonna be reading that headline. A lot!) perhaps I should look at the recent developments at Glasgow and Edinburgh. Development is in fact the key word here because, as we acknowledge that this season has been very poor for Scottish rugby, I am forced to ask “will at least one of Scotland’s pro sides be turned into a development team?”
After the weekends abysmal results for Glasgow and Edinburgh and after the crushing realisation that we all got a little carried away talking about Scotland we must now appreciate that our pro sides are in dire need of a shot in the arm.
We have already lost Max Evans and the squads are set to lose more.
