A Bad Night At the Office

WARRIORS did not play well at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday night. They made too-many unforced errors, perhaps tried too hard to force things and the whole game was a classic case of a bad night at the office.

Had Warriors played at their best, I am not saying they would have won – Harlequins played well, took their chances and, crucially in these European games, once again they got the rub of the green from a referee who had perhaps decided, pre-match, to favour the home side.

If Warriors should meet 'Quins again, in one of the later rounds, I fancy they will win – a case of third time lucky. Until then, we have to accept, while he is generally a poor coach, Danny Wilson does know how to upset the Scotstoun side.

Hopefully Scott Cummings, forced off the field early-on, is not so-badly hurt that it affects his participation in the Guinness Six Nations. Hopefully too, Sione Tuipulotu is not that badly injured. Against that, however, both Stafford McDowall and Rory Hutchison had good games on Saturday.

Mind you, during the three back-to-back games I watched on Saturday, the moment which worried me most came when Finn Russell had to leave the field in the Leinster v Bath game for a Head Injury Assessment; fortunately 'MacMessi' was able to return and weave his magic, albeit in a losing cause for his side.

The worst aspect of the whole viewing experience was having to endure the ridiculously pro-Harlequins commentary in the Glasgow game. It was almost – Ryan Wilson's efforts notwithstanding - as if there was only one side playing.

There are too-many English commentators in sport today – I suppose a result of there being so many of them – who have been brought up to believe they are indeed The Master Race.

OK, there are more of them than of the rest of us in the Celtic Fringes, but, it really is long past the time when the High Heid Yins in the media realised, we do not all support England or English clubs.

IF GLASGOW v Harlequins was a hard watch, Edinburgh putting the Georgian Black Lions to the sword was easier on the nerves, if not the eyes. I Edinburgh might revert to type and go down to the level of clearly inferior opponents, but, they found enough to avoid this pitfall.

I would have been more worried for them, had Magnus Bradbury incurred his ored card against English or French opposition, but thee game Georgians lacked the nous to take advantage of the opportunity this card dealt them,

At times, I found it a scrappy game, but, Edinburgh were always, even when down to 13 men, following yellows for Pierre Schoeman and Ben Healy, in control.

I felt for young Lewis Wells on his debut. I would suggest Duhan van der Merwe might have made a bit more of the passes his young replacement got, but, he has now been blooded and will be better for the experience.

I felt even more for Ross Thompson, who just cannot seem to get a break these days. He comes off the bench to see-out the victory and pretty soon he is back off, courtesy of these new smart mouthguards indicating a heavy blow to the head.

If it wasn't for his bad luck, young Ross would have nae luck. But, on a cheerier note – Javan Sebastina is somewhat under-rated by the body of the Scottish rugby Kirk, as is D'Arcy Rae. We repeatedly hear we have no cover for Zander Fagerson.

The one thing the Georgians take pride in above all else is the strength of their scrummaging and when he came on, Javan immediately had their scrum in a bit of bother.

OK, Javan and D'Arcy perhaps lack Zander's ability to make “metres after contsact” but, even today – a tight-head's primary function is to shore up the scrum and these two under-rated players can certainly do that in spades.

IT GOES without saying, there are no easy ties in the last 16 of any European competition. These sides are the best of the best in the respective competitions.

However, with home advantage, I have every confidence in Warriors being able to see off Leicester and Edinburgh get the better of Emirates Lions, when the two European competitions resume in April.

I would even suggest, IF Scotland has a better than average Six Nations, and Glasgow keep winning in the BKT United Rugby Championship, Warriors ought to be seeing if Hampden is available for their meeting with the Tigers.

The East Midlands side were comprehensively put to the sword by Toulouse's all-court game on Sunday, an outcome which should boost Glasgow. OK, Dupont, Kinghorn & Co poerhapos do it marginally better, but, if there is another side which can, like Toulouse, rip opponents to shreds in broken play, then it is Glasgow. No need to fear these Tigers, especially with home advantage.

To go off on what some might say is a total leap of faith, might I add here. IF and that is a huge IF, verging on the impossible, Harlequins can beat Leinster at Croke Park in their last 16 game – and Warriors see of Leicester, I would be 100% confident in Franco's men beating the Londoners in Glasgow in the quarter-final. The problem with that scenario is – I can see no way whereby 'Quins can win in Dublin, but, I could see Warriors winning a last eight game in Dublin.

Edinburgh had perhaps their worst result of the season when losing to Emirates Lions in South Africa earlier this season. They are a better side now and, with home advantage, while they might not totally overturn that reverse, they are more than capable of reaching the last eight.

Ranked third of the 16 remaining clubs, Edinburgh will have a home quarter-final against either Bayonne of the Bulls, should they tame the Lions, with the tantalising prospect of a semi-final against Stuart Hogg's Montpellier looming, or, am I getting ahead of myself here?

FINALLY, new Scottish Rugby Union Chief Executive Alex Williamson started work at Scottish Gas Murrayfield this morning. Welcome aboard Sir, and I hope you enjoy a long and successful spell in the hot seat. Just one question, below Item One – the Union's dire financial position, I wonder in what order the crucial items on his To Do list has been placed in his in-tray.