FOUR-TRY Glasgow Warriors hero Tommy Seymour has insisted that the whole team should get the credit for their 33-25 win over Leinster at Scotstoun on Saturday. It was Seymour’s sensational scoring spree that did the damage in the second half as the Warriors blasted back from being 10 points behind, but the winger said he had a much better defensive performance to thank for being able to add three second-half tries to his first-half opener.
“We were under the pump a little bit for large parts of the first half,” Seymour said.
“We weren’t making our tackles, we were being a little bit passive, so we said: ‘Let’s not kid ourselves, we’re playing Leinster, to stand a chance of winning this game we have to vastly improve our tackle count and defensive intensity’. So it was just about holding the ball, and defensively being a lot tighter and more aggressive, and hopefully we could start to turn the tide.”
Tim Swinson also touched down and Henry Pyrgos added four conversions to give the Warriors a win in their first game on Scotstoun’s new plastic pitch. The result keeps them on maximum points after two games, and the fact that they have beaten Leinster and Connacht - last season’s PRO12 finalists - makes that start to the season all the more impressive.
“This group relishes tough games.,” Seymour said when asked about the squad’s reaction when the fixture list was announced. “You’re going to have to play these teams twice at some point during the year.
“These fixtures come out, you go hard, you get the opportunity to go at the best teams straight away. And we got the two wins, which is great.
“We were pleased to get them first two up, because it’s a marker to set down, and a good chance to look at yourself and see where you are and what you’ve done pre-season. So I’m very happy to get the two wins, and the two bonus points is massive for us.”
The tough games keep on coming - the Blues are next up on Friday, and have also won their first two matches, at home to Edinburgh then away to Munster. “They’re a hugely talented squad, and we’re going down there next week and they’re going to want to put a marker down as well,” Seymour added. “So fingers crossed, we can use this as we used Connacht to get the momentum and get over the line again.”
It was cross words from head coach Gregor Townsend rather than crossed fingers that produced a much-improved second-half showing against Leinster. The Warriors were 12-7 up with five minutes left of the first half, but then Leonardo Sarto was yellow-carded for an offence close to his own line, and the Irishmen were quick to exploit the numerical advantage with two tries before the break.
They had the first word in the second half too, thanks to a penalty that put them 22-12 ahead. But then came Seymour’s purple patch with two tries in around three minutes, one from an interception and the other when he picked up a loose ball and found a way through the defence from the Leinster ten-metre line. The visitors briefly got back to within a point, but the Warriors winger had the last word with his fourth score.
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