GREGOR Townsend says he is not worried about the Warriors’ lack of cutting edge in attack as they prepare to face defending champions Connacht in their Guinness PRO12 opener. That is despite a 33-19 friendly defeat in Gloucester on Friday night when Glasgow failed to turn huge amounts of pressure into tries.
The Scottish side dominated the first half when both teams were near full strength, but had only a charge-down try for Alex Dunbar to show for it. In the second half they did create two tries, the second coming after a steady stream of substitutions for both sides.
Defeat to Connacht meant Glasgow failed to reach last season’s Guinness PRO12 final, so Townsend and his squad are determined to prove a point in Galway on Saturday.
“We were disappointed we did not build on the good work in the first half and the start of the second half when we scored a try – we were poor after that,” Townsend admitted after the Gloucester game. “There was commendable effort but you have to be smart to beat a defence like that and next week will be the same.
“Connacht will be full of confidence, there have some excellent players and they are the champions, but we will be going there with confidence. We have not got the results we wanted in pre-season, but we have put a lot of effort in and got a lot of learning as coaches and players.”
A blow for Glasgow was a shoulder injury to lock Scott Cummings. “He is a 19-year-old with a big future who was outstanding against Harlequins and one of our best players again tonight, so hopefully it will not be too bad,” Townsend said.
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