Townsend does not fear Northampton

Senior Sports Writer

Friday 12 October 2012

Northampton Saints may have set the early pace in the English Premiership this season but, having seen his side move steadily up the RaboDirect Pro12 standings to a top three place, Gregor Townsend is fully expecting his Glasgow Warriors side to beat them on their own patch on Sunday.

Warriors celebrate a try against Toulouse in 2009. Picture: SNS

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Kevin Ferrie

Four successive league wins have clearly emboldened the Warriors head coach who was bullish about his side's prospects as he prepares to visit one of the clubs he represented in his playing career.

"We have won twice away from home this year," he pointed out. "We know in terms of crowd numbers it is going to be bigger than when we played at the Ospreys and at Cardiff, it will be a better atmosphere.

"Up until last week we were going to be playing against an unbeaten side – they've now lost one game – and it's a challenge playing against one of the best teams in Europe. This group of players are more than capable of matching that."We go into every game with the goal of winning. I believe the squad we have got here can get a win down there but we know how tough it is going to be. They are very good at home, they have a power game that is based on going to scrum to penalty to lineout, getting to the gain line through their break-up ball carriers."He believes lessons in how to overcome that were provided by London Irish who overran Northampton last weekend."It is a massive challenge but what we learned last week was that London Irish played really well, created quick ball and they took their opportunities. We know we will have to take any opportunity that is given," said Townsend. "It is great to see that the work the players are putting in has been paying dividends, especially the character that this group is showing away from home. That is pleasing for everyone. We always knew there was a break after the first six games so this is a new focus. The Heineken Cup will lift everyone, knowing that we are going to a place like Franklin's Gardens, which is such a huge challenge. We know how big this game is for the club."That is not least the case because of the need to justify the explicit and implicit promises made to supporters about the progress that could be expected of their team when the decision was taken, earlier this year, to change the management that had overseen the most successful season in the club's history.A win over English opposition on the first weekend of last season's Heineken Cup sent them on their way to finishing runners-up in their pool for the first time and Townsend claimed he no longer sees it as appropriate to talk of there being any sort of gap between the Scottish and English game at this level. If that is the case then it clearly changes the dynamic for his players and he acknowledged that there are pros and cons in being outsiders, which they will still be in the eyes of most. "The underdog mentality does sometimes provide motivation to play your best game, but sometimes you can go in expecting to lose or expecting that you are an inferior team and then you play like an inferior team," Townsend admitted. "We have created a bit of belief in what we are doing and the two away wins are great for the subconscious. We're going there to win."By way of example of what will be required he drew upon what was, perhaps until Edinburgh beat the same opponents at the quarter-final stage last season, the biggest surprise in Heineken Cup history when Glasgow visited Toulouse four seasons ago. "Glasgow have produced some great European performances, such as the game at Toulouse, which was fantastic," he said."They probably were the No.1 team at home in Europe, so it showed if you go out there with the belief that you can play and match your skills against the best you can come away with a great win.A number of our players played in that game, which is great to have down there in the subconscious."

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Townsend does not fear Northampton

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