Mark Hammett, the new Cardiff Blues director of rugby, last night warned his players to gear up for a difficult Guinness Pro12 contest with a Glasgow Warriors team he has branded "exceptional."
Mark Hammett, the new Cardiff Blues director of rugby, last night warned his players to gear up for a difficult Guinness Pro12 contest with a Glasgow Warriors team he has branded "exceptional."
The sides meet at the Arms Park on the back of opening-day triumphs over Zebre and champions Leinster respectively. Former All Black Hammett believes the Blues' campaign will start for real against the Warriors on Sunday. "I thought Glasgow were exceptional when they beat Leinster at Scotstoun last weekend. They should have won by a much clearer margin than their late penalty. We are excited about playing them at home; it will be a fast and open match on our artificial pitch and we will leave nothing to chance.
"It's important that we make our home a tough place for teams to come. To make the stadium a fortress would be nice, but words are cheap, we need to perform."
Meanwhile, Lanarkshire-born scrum-half John Cooney is in line to make his competitive debut for Connacht against Edinburgh at BT Murrayfield tomorrow. Cooney made the move to the Galway-based outfit after being released during the summer by Leinster.
Ireland Test pair Kieran Marmion and Robbie Henshaw are also set to be added to the squad that beat the Dragons in Newport. Captain John Muldoon is expected to recover from a hamstring problem.
Meanwhile, the Rugby World Cup 2015 will come "far too soon" for rugby league convert Sam Burgess, according to Lewis Moody. The England World Cup-winner believes the Bath signing could struggle to master union's complexities and break into Stuart Lancaster's England squad in time for next year's global tournament.
Burgess will swap Sydney for the south-west next month, arriving at the Recreation Ground on October 15.
Bath will pitch Burgess into action in the centre, with head coach Mike Ford still confident the 25-year-old will flourish in the back-row in time.
Burgess has proved an Australian sensation in four years at NRL outfit South Sydney, but will have just nine months to handle his code switch in time to make England's World Cup squad.
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