AFTER their systematic dismemberment by Leinster back in June, Glasgow Warriors return to the RDS today quietly determined to prove they have made significant progress over the past five months.
That 76-14 defeat on their last visit to Dublin not only ended the Warriors’ involvement in the URC play-offs at the quarter-final stage, it cost Danny Wilson his job.
His replacement as head coach, Franco Smith, has restored a certain solidity to the squad, but the contrast between the team’s home and away form remains a burning issue.
Glasgow have won all three of their matches at Scotstoun so far in the league this season, and lost all three on the road. They beat Cardiff by 28 points and the Bulls by 14, then most recently defeated Benetton 37-0. Their away losses have been by 22 points, 15 and 28 to Benetton, the Ospreys and the Sharks respectively.
Leinster’s record, conversely, is played seven, won seven. So Smith knows that his team will be up against it today, especially given a lengthy injury list and the absence of several front-line Scotland internationalists, and after announcing his line-up yesterday he did his best to downplay his team’s chances of causing an upset.
“We’re going there with less expectation,” he said. “It’s a game that Leinster should win on paper. We’re going to try and be the best we can be, and that is the message to the players.
“This is a massive challenge, but it’s good for everybody in the squad to measure ourselves against them. The away form is the elephant in the room that we don’t want to talk about.
“The challenge this week is to repeat the quality of the games here at Scotstoun – can we take it on the road?
“We’ve come through a growth process. All teams that start with a new coaching structure, a new direction, always find their way in the beginning. Our theme was ‘let’s find our way quickly’ – and now it’s time to be tough together.”
Only four of today’s starting line-up – Josh McKay, Rufus McLean, Gregor Brown and Jack Dempsey – also began the match five months ago. But that game remains a stain on the club’s reputation, and all those involved today will be all too keenly aware of that shame.
However, when he took up his post in August, Smith did not dwell too much on that debacle, reasoning that the players required no reminding of the need to regain far higher standards.
And this week, too, the emphasis has been on the present and the immediate future, not the traumas of the past.
“We specifically didn’t refer to that game this week,” he continued. “We’re trying to write our own story now. This is a new book – we’ve turned the page on that period.
“It’s going to be a different theme out there. We don’t want to carry the burden of that game with us.
“We’ve turned that page, we’ve used that motivation, the players know that without saying, so I hope there’s enough motivation that they’ve taken individually out of that to make it a good collective performance.”
Dempsey, Fraser Brown and Murphy Walker all go straight back into Smith’s starting line-up after their involvement in Scotland’s victory over Argentina last week, while Jamie Bhatti is on the bench. But Ali Price, Sione Tuipulotu and the Fagerson brothers are rested, and Richie Gray is serving the second of his three-match suspension.
Eleven players are on the injury list: Scott Cummings (foot), Rory Darge (ankle), Allan Dell (calf), Cole Forbes (neck), Thomas Gordon (calf), Sam Johnson (jaw), Nathan McBeth (head), Domingo Miotti (knee), Cameron Neild (head), Enrique Pieretto (chest) and Duncan Weir (calf). Ryan Wilson has now returned to training after recovering from injury and should be available for next week’s trip to Parma to face Zebre, as should Huw Jones, who is in Dublin as 24th man having completed his recuperation from a back injury.
Leinster are without senior Ireland internationals such as Tadhg Furlong, Caelan Doris and Josh van der Flier, but the depth of their squad has been second to none in recent years, and they will be favourites to win by a comfortable margin.
Glasgow Warriors (v Leinster at the RDS, Saturday 3.15pm): J McKay; S Cancelliere, K Steyn (captain), S McDowall, R McLean; T Jordan, G Horne; O Kebble, F Brown, M Walker, S Manjezi, A Samuel, G Brown, S Vailanu, J Dempsey. Substitutes J Matthews, J Bhatti, S Berghan, J du Preez, L Bean, E Ferrie, J Dobie, R Thompson.Leinster J Osborne; R Russell, L Turner, C Ngatai, D Kearney; R Byrne, L McGrath; E Byrne, R Kelleher, T Clarkson, R Molony, J McCarthy, R Ruddock (captain), S Penny, M Deegan. Substitutes J McKee, M Milne, V Abdaladze, J Jenkins, R Baird, C Foley, H Byrne, C Cosgrave.Referee Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa).
