Weegies Don't Do No Surrender

I DOUBT if many of the Warrior Nation, in Belfast in numbers on Friday night were surprised at the defensive effort of Ulster in the first half – in the Warriors' world we know all about “No Surrender” and doughty defence. We certainly saw ample evidence of this aspect of life in the province during that first half.

Then in the second half, the Irish side came more into the game and Glasgow's much-vaunted defensive systems were given a serious work-out before, right at the death, as good teams do, Warriors found a way to win a difficult match.

It was their first victory over Ulster at Ravenhill for 13 years; they deserved to win and it is a sign of just what a good team Franco Smith has built at Scotstoun, that, on a night when they perhaps only hit 90%, against commited opponents, they found a way to get the job done.

With their pack on top throughout, the Glasgow backs got plenty of chances to run at Ulster, but their attacks foundered on some of the best defence I have seen for some time. However, Glasgow didn't panic and in the end they got their reward.

They now know, they will have home advantage in every knock-out game, although, if we can avoid Coach Smith's one game at a time mantra and look, hopefully, towards the Grand Final – we still don't know where that game, should it happen for Warriors, will be held.

OPTING TO watch the Ulster v Glasgow game and leave the Edinburgh v Connacht meeting until Premier Sport replayed it on Saturday morning was a no-brainer. This was one I never fancied Edinburgh to win and my pre-game forecast proved correct.

The match was effectively over, with the Irish visitors leading 19-0 at half-time. OK, the second half was a lot closer, but, again, Edinburgh disappointed. A final comment on this game: Aimee Barrett-Theron is no Hollie Davidson.

The BTL comments below Stuart Bathgate's TOL match report made interesting reading. It's almost as if the Edinburgh faithful are now used to mediocrity and can see no end to their disappointment. A serious reboot is called for next season.

CONNACHT'S PRIZE for their win at The Hive is another trip to Scotland, on Friday week, when they will pitch up at Scotstoun to meet Warriors in the quarter-final.

The Warriors medical staff are going to be busy over the next ten days or so, the Glasgow side are carrying a fairly-hefty injury list at the moment and they need to get some big names closer to full fitness before the match. One of the TNT Sports Prem cheerleaders came away with a rare shaft of intelligence over the weekend: the suggestion that - with the attritional nature of professional Rugby Union in the 21^st century, at this time of the season, just about every player is carrying some type, however slight, of injury. The quarter-final may come down to survival of the fittest.

Connacht will be no pushover, however, every club which has navigated those 18 rounds of regular season play to reach the knock-out phase of the League, has to treated as a threat and Franco and the players will know what is coming. With Warriors' home record, you have to fancy their chances.

The other quarter-finals will be equally hard-fought, they are:

• Vodacom Bulls v Munster – at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

• DHL Stormers v Cardiff – in Cape Town

• Leinster v The Lions – Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Now, the season gets interesting.

IF – AND IT'S a big IF – Glasgow get through their next two games safely, they will have home advantage in the BKT Unitd Rugby Championship Grand Final. Except they will not.

Scotstoun was never big enough for such a game, that's a given. So what alternatives are there? For various reasons, none of the three big Glasgow football grounds could take the game. Not a problem, there's always Murrayfield, which is a second home to the team. Except, the National Stadium will not be available that weekend, as it will be in use for a cash-generating pop concert.

Now this has got the usual suspects in the Scottish Rugby up in arms. “Disgusted of Stockbridge” and the like will be fulminating against the unavailability of the ground, totally denying the fact, the SRU is trying to fight its way out of a bit of a financial black hole and the income generated by such off-season concerts goes a long way towards offsetting the losses sustained via trying to run professional Rugby Union in a nation obsesses with the round ball form of Football.

The sad fact is, there are only four sports grounds in Scotland capable of hosting a major match of this standing and for various reasons, none is available on the set date. That's what happens when you play what is regarded as a second rate game, in a colony, administered by third or fourth rate politicians and sports administrators. That's life folks.

 

Another Win For The Glasgow Globetrotters

THERE IS an awful lot of bullshit spoken or written when it comes to Sport – perhaps the best example being that Olympic Games creed: “The glory is not in winning but in having taken part.”

These noble words are immediately undercut by the Olympic motto: “Citius – Altius – Fortius” = “Faster – Higher – Stronger” which rather assumes, instead of simply taking part, you have to push yourself to beat your personal best and hopefully everyone else.

Sport is all about winning, particularly in professional sport. With most teams a win is a win, however it is achieved, but, there are other teams where the objective is to win with style and panache. In winning, that team is expected to lift their fans and everyone else, by showing additional elan and panache while going about their business.

Cardiff RFC is one such club – their distinguished history, particularly during the Amateur Era, demands that they put on a bit of a show whenever they take the field. Glasgow Warriors do not – as yet – have that burden of expectation on them, but, under Franco Smith, they are starting to forge a reputation for entertainment to the extent television talking heads, ok, not the most self-aware creatures on earth, do not feel embarrassed at dubbing them: “The Glasgow Globetrotters.”

So, when Cardiff ran out at Scotstoun on Friday night, there were great expectations of an entertaining 80 minutes or so – and, to the delight of the fans, both teams obliged.

Whatever else happens, the basic gospel of Rugby Union applies: “Forwards win matches, backs decide by how much”. The Glasgow pack which took the field on Friday night might not have been the club's strongest – the absence of the likes of British Lions Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings makes that obvious; however, the pack which did play was good enough to win the forward fight and give the talented Glasgow backs the foundations to win the game.

From the get-go, both sides sought to move the ball into the wider areas whenever possible. This made for an entrtaining match, but, behind the scrum, Glasgow had the brighter lights – the outstanding George Horne, Dan Lancaster, Kyle Steyn, Kyle Rowe with, for added enjoyment, a late cameo off the bench from Ollie Smith.

The bonus point win kept Warriors at the top of the BKT United Rugby Championship “log” - they are now guaranteed a top four finish, a home quarter-final at least. Winning their final game, against Ulster in Belfast will not be easy, but, the Ulstermen do have a Challenge Cup Final coming up and a lengthy injury list. They currently lie eighth in the standings, just ahead of Connacht, so cannot take it easy on the night.

The fact that the vagaries of the fixture list has thrown-up two crucial cross-channel matches in the round: while Glasgow go to Belfast, Connacht head for Edinburgh, addes picquancy to the round.

SPEAKING OF the capital side, that was an uplifting victory over the Dragons, in Newport on Saturday night. Given their up and down form this season, this was the sort of fixture from which you expected little of Edinburgh earlier this season.

However, they maintained their late season form by securing a third straight win, at a ground where they have folded in the past. It wasn't easy, at times it was “clunky” but, they got the job done.

The half-back pairing of young Harry Patterson and Ross Thompson gelled well, the returning Duhan van der Merwe did what he does – give him the ball and a metre of space and he will score. But, for me, the late career flowering of Grant Gilchrist has had a highly-positive effect on his club over these three wins.

The onus is now on Edinburgh to sign-off a disappointing season in style by beating Connacht in their final game. This is a challenge which has implications for Scottish more than Edinburgh Rugby culture.

I WATCHED Bristol v Saracens on TV on Saturday. A little-discussed one v one in the game was the clash of the tens: Fergus Burke for Sarries and Tom Jordan for the Bears. These two are vying for the understudy role to MacMessi in the national team, and their head-to-head was one of the highlights of an entertaining game.

I felt, on the day, playing behind the dominant pack and on the end of young Charlie Bracken's slick service, Burke took the honours, but, both produced quality performances.

It was good, too, to see Robbie Smith starting at hooker for Northampton in the East Midlands Derby, where Leicester's Nicky Smith won the Mince for Brains award on the day by having a go at Robbie early-on.

Acting stupidly with a Galloway Irishman – not a wise move, one which sparked-off a spirited spell of handbags and proved to many – props wear their Iqs on their backs.

Still in the over-hyped Prem, I seldom miss a Finn Russell performance, but, having watched his last two or three club games, I do feel MacMessi would benefit from a lengthy break. It will not happen, of course, but I feel, right now, he is running on fumes – although that still makes him a very-good player.

 

Eet Is All Appening In France

THE BIG NEWS in Scottish Rugby this week is the return of Jamie Ritchie from France. The talk o' the steamie is that, at the end of the season, he will swap Perpignan for Glasgow. This, should it happen, will be a major coup for Glasgow. I am not surprised, I was tipped off that it was happening a few weeks ago, by a friend with little more than a passing relationship with Rugby, but, a son who is aparently on very-good terms with Jamie.

However, the real stooshie from the weekend came from elsewhere in France, with our southern neighbours more than a little perturbed at what they saw as French frolics in the match between UBB and Bath. Leading the charge of unfairness, aimed at the French TV director, are Lawrence Dallaglio and Andy Goode.

From where I am sitting, I always wonder how The Italian Gelding – as I refer to Big Loll – still gets TV time. For me, he should have been kicked into the long grass alongside Inverdale and Woodward. Goode, I have a wee bit more time for, he does a good job when on URC duty alongside oor ain Barclay-Wilson Friday night double act. However, like many otherwise good English talking heads – David Flatman, Austin Healey, when put on a game featuring an English team, he reverts to being a fan with a microphone, convinced the sterling English Yeomen can do no wrong.

OK, suppose the French TV director did keep under wraps camera angles which might reflect badly on a French side – that's not a uniquely French attitude; I've watched the English edit of the 1967 England v Scotland football match at Wembley – the one we won 3-2 going on 6-2.

We played them off the park that day, but, if you view the BBC England highlights package, it comes across as us being the jammiest team on Earth to have won. TV directors and editors can easily turn fact into fiction.

The answer is to have, as happens in properly-financed leagues such as the NFL, a television stream independent of that going out to the general public, under the control of the governing body and linked directly to the TMO. This feed, and only this feed, would be used for those incidents where the TMO gets called-in. Bring this in and no domestic director could mess about with the neutrality of the match officials.

Mind you, there is another area where the NFL's in-house TV feed differs from how we do things in Rugby. They have a central point of reference, one studio covering all games, and, the replays are in real time – none of these super-slow-motion replays which can distort reality.

Any way, UBB won and won well. I had to laugh reading The Guardian's below the line comments from readers on the game. The usual English suspects were keen to blame Finn Russell for Bath losing. OK, MacMessi didn't have one of his best games; this was a solid 7/7.5-10 performance, but, on the day, with Bath losing the forward battle and UBB coming up on him quickly, not even Finn could control matters, although he did produce his usual handful of wonderful moments.

I HAVE been getting some flak from elsewhere in Ayrshire, for waxing lyrical on Ayr's double, achievded on Super Saturday, while ignoring Carrick's win in the National Shield.

I am now prepared to say congratulations to the Minnieboolers on their well-deserved success. I was involved in starting Rugby in the Capital of Carrick, when I lived there during the early years of my marriage. The late Roy Alexander, a fellow Cumnock Academical was Head of PE at Carrick Academy at the time and I helped him introduce the game at the school.

This was a few years before the Carrick club was formed, with another old Academy team mate – Ian McClung – playing a prominent role in the early days. They have come a long way down there in Carrick and it was such a pity that they could not back-up their Shield win by also winning West Division One, being pipped to the title by Lenzie.

Still, Carrick are going in the right direction, while my old club Cumnock are heading in the opposite one, relegated out of West One. It's a fair scunner.

BOTH IN FOOTBALL and in Rugby, I've been on the wrong end of some hammerings, but, I don't think I ever suffered a 100 points thumping. So, all I can say to the girls of the Scotland Under-21 team, who were thrashed 0-113 by France at the weekend is, sorry girls, you just have to suck it up and hopefully learn from this chastening experience.

I honestly feel forry for our women players, because I genuinely feel, there is a lasting institutional feeling inside the Murrayfield bubble that Rugby really isn't a game for girls. You see this in the way a lot of women's teams have to struggle to get an even break at their clubs. We really need to have a good, hard look at how we run the women's game in Scotland.

Speaking of Women's Rugby, I see World Rugby is introducing a smaller size 4.5 ball into international women's games later this year. This is a move I have long advocated, however, as ever when change is mooted, some women players are against the move.

Time will tell, but, I hope it works.