GLENN BRYCE knows all too well how vital confidence is in the world of top-class rugby.
The 28-year-old has been through the mill in the past few years, with a move from Glasgow Warriors to Edinburgh three seasons ago not working out in the way he hoped, which resulted in a dip in form and a significant knock to his confidence.
However, Scotland 7s came calling last season, which worked wonders for Bryce’s game, before Glasgow Warriors stepped in to re-sign the full-back.
The Alloa man appears to have made the transition from 7s to 15s seamlessly, but he admits playing for 80 minutes again has taken a bit of getting used to.
“The year I had with the sevens was great,” he said.
“I love playing with the ball in the hand and I trust myself on the field. The big difference between 7s and 15s I’ve found is the mental side of things – focusing for 80 minutes. With 7s, the game is done in 14 minutes so it was more about getting used to going for 80 minutes again.
“You need to get really well prepared in the warm-up and get right up for the game. And then I like to try to get some early touches in the 15s game and stay focused for the entire match.”
READ MORE: Four changes for Glasgow Warriors as they go for first Pro14 win of season
Warriors have had something of a shaky start to this season’s Pro14. Their campaign opened with losses to Cheetahs and Scarlets before a win over Cardiff Blues a fortnight ago got last season’s runner’s-up back to winning ways.
Dave Rennie has made a number of changes to the starting line-up to take on Dragons at Rodney Parade this evening, with Niko Matawalu returning, as well as Kyle Steyn and Oli Kebble coming in to join Bryce in the starting fifteen. And Bryce is confident that he and his teammates can build on that win in their last outing.
“We’re excited to get back on the field – we’re feeling refreshed and we want to build on the win we got against Cardiff. This league is all about momentum so we went to get another win,” he said.
The Cardiff win was a good starting point for us and for me personally, today is another opportunity to showcase what I can do.”
Bryce has started the season well, including being awarded man-of-the-match in one of Warriors’ pre-season matches against Ulster. With Scotland’s World Cup contingent back in the fray now, competition for places will be intense but Bryce is confident that he can make his mark, as well as help his team to climb the Pro14 league table.
“Things didn’t go as well as I hoped at Edinburgh but I’m using everything that’s happened in the past to push me on,” he said.
“I’m a positive guy and I like to showcase what I can do. I’m 28 now and I know the score so it’s just about believing in yourself and putting all that hard work into the game.
“We definitely want to be back up the right end of the table. It’s a long competition but I have confidence that come the end of the season, we’ll be up there. The boys coming back from the RWC will be keen to get back in and get some wins under their belts.
“We got that win last time out and while it might not have been the prettiest, we still got there. And we’ve gone over in meetings the little details – if we get them right, we’ll hopefully get another win today. It’s small margins and with boys coming back in to bolster the squad, we’re feeling good about the games coming up.”
READ MORE: Glasgow Warriors sign Johnny Matthews and Pat O’Toole
Clyde Travel Management is the Official Travel Partner of Glasgow Warriors, and has extended its partnership with the club into its seventh year.
Glenn Bryce was speaking at the launch of the renewal at Glasgow Airport ahead of Glasgow Warriors’ trip to face the Dragons in the Guinness PRO14.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here