As he offered his analysis of his side’s first defeat of the season Jason O’Halloran may, yesterday, have put his finger on why Glasgow Warriors have repeatedly failed to make a major breakthrough in Europe.
The former Scotland attack coach, who is now on Dave Rennie’s backroom team at Scotstoun, noted that there are fundamental differences between the approach required to do well in the domestic Pro14, which regularly features weakened sides as a result of international commitments and player rotation and the heightened level of the European game.
With their all-action approach Glasgow have won all six matches they have played in the Pro14 this season, in and on a wide variety of conditions and playing surfaces. However on Saturday they were bludgeoned into submission by English champions Exeter Chiefs. Having gone into the match as the last team in Europe with an unbeaten record, they now find themselves at the bottom of their European pool table as the only team without so much as a bonus point and facing the prospect of elimination in all but name should they lose at home to three time Heineken Cup champions Leinster on Saturday.
There was a naïve look to the way Glasgow sought to take the game to their opponents at the weekend, conceding possession too easily and O’Halloran reckons that they must take note of what is required.
“It is very much the way the European championship is being played. PRO14 has been won by expansive teams in the last three campaigns, Glasgow, Connacht and Scarlets. This is a completely different competition it is win at all costs,” he said. “It is more about winning the physical battle and trying to bully teams, particularly away from home. Winning by any means possible. If it means winning by multiples of three then that is how teams will go about it.”
He consequently conceded that it is the more creative teams that have to make an adjustment.
“I think you have to change your game,” said O’Halloran. “In the domestic competition we have 21 games to iron out our game plan and get that right by May next year. Here in Europe you don’t get 21 games to get your game right. You have to be right from the word go. It means you have to be a bit more conservative.”
Reinforcing that message he admitted that Glasgow had also failed to take proper account of all that they were up against in the West Country on Saturday.
“We were guilty of trying to put too much width on our play at times... and our kicking game we lost out which led to territory of 61 percent which I guess on a slippery field in a pressure game was probably the difference to be fair,” he said. I guess we misread conditions. When we got to the ground the field was soaked. I don’t know that worked out. How we planned to play was not conducive to the conditions we faced. It’s been good for us, highlighted an area of the game where we have to develop a bit more. We don’t want to be a one-dimensional team going east-west all day. We want to go up the middle at times. Hopefully we will have a bit of balance to our game against Leinster.”
A major boost for Glasgow is in the offing with O’Halloran indicating that two-time British & Irish Lions tourist Stuart Hogg looks set to make his season’s debut.
“He has great energy and enthusiasm,” he said. “Ruaridh (Jackson) has played outstandingly in his absence but we felt we needed to get Hoggy in there this weekend. We would have liked to have brought him off the bench against Exeter but that was not available to us so didn’t happen. He has done well in training and we are looking at him to be involved this weekend.”
* Scottish Rugby’s chief executive has told clubs that the process for applications to be part of the new ‘Super 6’ semi-professional league will open next week, but that they will be given close to six months to put formal plans together.
Mark Dodson said he was confirming the timeline for the project which aims to see the new competition get underway in season 2019/20, with the application process opening on October 20.
The deadline for submissions will be March 31, while an announcement on which clubs have been successful will be made little more than a month later on May 1.
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