Wounded Warriors eye redemption over rivals
IT HARDLY requires a PHD in psychology to figure out the current mood in the Glasgow Warriors camp. Survival instincts have kicked in and they are now a wounded animal. What must be said, though, is that their wounds are entirely self-inflicted thanks to a season which has been wildly inconsistent. Who would have thought that, so soon after a victory away in France in the European Cup, their campaign could be perched so perilously close to the abyss? Victory in La Rochelle should have been the result which finally sparked them into life, only for the Warriors to follow it with a calamitous home defeat to the French side last weekend. With Glasgow’s European hopes in tatters, rivals Edinburgh will be heading to Scotstoun on Saturday night licking their lips and intent on feasting on the scraps. Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill has already lobbed the first verbal hand grenade along the M8 with his claim that Glasgow players are ‘whingers’. Warriors player-coach Petrus du Plessis admits that the squad is ‘hurting’ from last weekend’s defeat, a feeling which has fuelled a ‘desperation’ in their attitude this week. Insisting that this could be when they are at their most dangerous, though, he believes Glasgow are ready to come out fighting in the 1872 Cup — and want to ‘smash’ their rivals. Referencing a thumping 34-10 victory over Edinburgh in April of last season, he said: ‘It’s massively important for us — massive. ‘It’s a national derby. You can say what you want about last year when they won twice around Christmas, before we absolutely smashed them off the park in the last game (in April). ‘For us, it’s to pick up from there and do what we know we do well. Last year and the year before, we were comfortable and they were scrapping for it and they were more desperate than us. ‘This year, it will be interesting to see how we go because we’re in that position. ‘It’s still in our hands but we’ve got to focus because we’re desperate for the points. ‘To come up against Edinburgh is a fantastic opportunity to put things right. ‘Richard Cockerill has got in their ears and hyped up the whole derby thing, but so have we. ‘We talk about the culture we have in Glasgow compared to Edinburgh, and we’ve just got to show it at the weekend. ‘The boys were hurting a lot from last weekend and we know the challenge is going to get even tougher against Edinburgh. ‘The guys know each other really well from Scotland, so there’s a lot more to it than, for example, playing Cardiff Blues or Leinster. It’s closer to the bone for us, so it’s going to be a hell of a physical battle.’ With Edinburgh sitting pretty in Conference B and Glasgow chasing things in Conference A, there is something of a role reversal currently at play. For Glasgow, who have so often sat top of the standings in recent seasons, the hunted have become the hunters. They have precious little margin for error over the two games against their rivals, but Du Plessis insists they can use the pressure to their advantage. Refuting the idea that the defeat to La Rochelle could derail the entire season, he said: ‘No. If we’d come away with the win, then possibly one more win could have got us into the quarters. ‘But the pressure is on us now. We always seem to thrive under pressure. Look at the back end of last year when we had to make the play-offs, or get a home semi-final. ‘The Pro14 is still pretty much in our hands. Last year, a team like Edinburgh who lost ten or 11 games still had an opportunity to get to the play-offs. ‘We just need to keep our heads down, prepare really well and go on. It will come. ‘We wouldn’t make any excuses, but it was a tough start for us with the World Cup and the disruptions we had. We’ll go again.’