IF the loss of Jack Dempsey with a rib injury was meant to be a major set-back for Glasgow Warriors ahead of Saturday night’s clash against the Bulls, then nobody bothered to tell the man who replaced him in the No.8 jersey.
Dempsey has been a talismanic figure for the club since his move north from Australia in the summer of 2021, but Matt Fagerson proved a more than capable replacement, scoring the first of his team’s five tries and registering a man-of-the-match performance as Warriors obliterated the Bulls’ unbeaten record in the league this season, winning 35-21.
Speaking afterwards, Fagerson hinted that No.8 is indeed his preferred position but stressed that he is happy to play on either flank if it is for the greater good of the team. And he insisted that he was delighted when Dempsey was recruited by Glasgow because he knew he needed that sort of challenge in order to reinvigorate his own career.
“I really wanted that competition because I felt I had plateaued a little bit,” the 24-year-old said. “I had a great tenure under Dave Rennie [head coach between 2017 and 2020] then I didn’t think I’d improved that much. But having Jack here has really pushed my game on.
“I love seeing him when he makes a break or a tackle. He’s got that energy and it rubs off on all the boys. You see it at training as well, he’s an absolute character and he’s definitely spurred me on.
“I love playing 8, I feel very comfortable being in the midfield and being in and around the tight pods rather than sitting on the edges, but we’ve got such quality in our back row with Rory [Darge] and Jack that I am happy to help the team wherever I can fit in,” he added.
Warriors’ other tries on Saturday night came via winger Sebastian Cancelliere, second-row Scott Cummings, scrum-half George Horne and full-back Josh McKay. They had the bonus point in the bag by half time, and when they went off the boil as an attacking force during the final quarter, they doubled down in defence to make sure the Bulls did not get so much as a sniff of a comeback victory.
They were uncompromising at set-piece, ferocious at the breakdown to win several turnovers, and dangerous with ball in hand from all over the park.
The challenge now is to take that impressive form on the road. Warriors have not lost a league game at Scotstoun since coming up short against Leinster last October, but they have not tasted victory in their last eight URC games away from home since beating Connacht in January.
In the four league games played this season, they have slumped to a dispiriting 33-11 loss away to Treviso, then ripped through Cardiff for a 51-24 win at Scotstoun, then could not recreate that form when they suffered a 32-17 defeat at the Ospreys, and then produced their best performance of the campaign against the Bulls on Saturday.
That pattern can’t continue if Warriors want to become serious contenders at the top end of the URC table, and Fagerson believes that the squad are now ready to get past those away day blues, with the next fortnight in South Africa offering two golden opportunities to do just that.
Warriors play Sharks in Durban on Saturday and then the Lions in Johannesburg seven days after that. If they can pick up just one win from those two matches, then it would be major step forward for the side.
“We need to get that monkey off our backs when we play away games. When we travel, we have to bring the same mind-set as we have at home,” he said.
“The turnaround we showed against Cardiff after the Treviso game, and against the Bulls after last week’s loss to Ospreys, it shows that we can do it and it’s all in our control. It’s just getting that consistency.
“Winning against probably the most physical team in the league is definitely a confidence boost for when we travel over to South Africa.
“We know that the Sharks are no rollovers, they’ve got some big men as well and they’re a quality outfit, so we’re going to have to do our homework and pitch up again next week. But I think we’re in a pretty good place.”
