GORDON REID is confident Glasgow Warriors have learned the lesson from last season's PRO12 campaign and can put that education to good use when they meet Munster in this year's final on Saturday.
The loosehead prop believes that he and some team-mates failed to handle the occasion properly last time round, when Glasgow lost 34-12 to Leinster in the final, but is adamant they will not make the same mistake again.
"Last year was a good experience for the boys to get to a final, but we're in a better place than we were last year and hopefully we can go on and win," Reid said yesterday after training at Scotstoun. "We learned a lot from last year. On the day I think some players, including myself, were burned out. You take it all in and I got up at seven o'clock in the morning. I was told not to let the day pass me by and to take it all in. I just think when it came to the game I was burned out, as they say.
"This time we have to relax, take it easy - but as Gregor [Townsend, the Glasgow coach] says, take it easy and take the atmosphere in - but don't play the game before the game has even started. What I have learned from all the big games with Glasgow and Scotland, that sort of thing, is that you go into the game as you usually do.
"You do exactly as you always do. Some boys eat the same things as the day progresses. It is do as you always do and get yourself in the right mindset for the game."
At times, of course, finding - and staying in - the right mindset can be as difficult as getting the better of the opposition. Yes, relaxation is important, and it is essential to ensure that you do not become overwhelmed by the magnitude of the occasion. Yet, at the same time, players need to appreciate that matches such as this weekend's do not come along very often.
Perhaps it is all about being laidback - while also rising to the occasion. "This could be the biggest week of our whole careers," Reid continued. "Winning the PRO12 would be fantastic. We have to keep doing what we do and have to be better than the opposition and give 100 per cent until there is nothing more to give.
"We expect more than last year. Last year we learned quite a lot. We want to be the best in Europe, and this is one of the steps to being that."
Winning the PRO12 final would be a career-high for the Scotland cap but, just as importantly for a man who served his apprenticeship playing club rugby for Ayr, he believes it would give a significant boost to the sport throughout the wider Glasgow region - and indeed the country as a whole.
"We would be the first team in Scotland to win a major trophy. That would do wonders for rugby in the whole of Scotland, not just Glasgow. When people see a winning team they want to jump on the bandwagon, they want to be associated with it.
"You see how good Glasgow have been over the past couple of years, and how the crowds have grown. When you see a team like Glasgow winning something, that inspires young boys coming through."
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