GLASGOW playmaker Pete Horne has insisted that he and his team-mates can take little or no consolation from having played well for large parts of Monday night’s loss to Leinster.
Warriors coach Danny Wilson praised the character shown by his players in the second half of the 32-19 defeat by the champions, and said they should have taken something from the match, which was a third defeat in four PRO14 outings. But Horne said that fighting spirit should be regarded as a given, and that even though some aspects of the contest could be seen as encouraging, a team of Glasgow’s stature had to demand more of themselves.
“You know, you’d be gutted if anyone questioned our character, the type of blokes that we are,” said the stand-off, who converted two of his team’s three tries, scored by his brother George, D’Arcy Rae and Tom Gordon. “That’s a given: any time you pull on a jersey, you go out there and put your all into it.
“We can’t pat ourselves on the back and feel like we’ve played all right but come away on the wrong side of the scoreboard. We’re a prouder club than that. We should be doing better.
“No-one really cares that we’re playing all right and we’re fronting up a bit. In this business, at professional level, it’s about getting results. We’ve made sure that everyone knows that in the changing room. We’re all gutted, but we just need to look at each other and make sure we turn it round next week.”
Leinster, who have won all four of their games to sit top of Conference A, have used nearly 50 players already this season - proof if any were needed of the unmatched depth of their squad. Glasgow, conversely, are particularly short in some positions, notably second row, where a combination of Scotland call-ups, injury and Covid protocols meant they could not field a specialist replacement in the position.
Having said that, Wilson was able to select an all-international back line for the match at Scotstoun, and Horne, who was on the field along with other Scotland caps such as Sam Johnson, Tommy Seymour and Huw Jones, accepted that they might justifiably have been expected to make a greater contribution to the contest.
“There were some young boys who did well,” he continued. “But specially with that back line we had out on the field, it was a great back line and we should have been doing more with what we had.
“I think we gave up a couple of really soft tries. They took their chances. They were really clinical: when they got into our 22 they made us pay. They’re very good at holding onto the ball.
“We had a couple of chances . . . We’d make a mistake at the lineout or we’d cough up the ball. They made us work for our scores and there was a couple of times when we didn’t make them. Disappointing. Disappointing.”
The main grounds for encouragement at this stage of the season is that Glasgow are not doing too much wrong. They never threatened to get the better of Leinster, but they might well have ended up on top in their other two defeats, by Connacht and Ospreys.
In other words, as Horne accepted, it is plausible to think that they may be on the brink of putting together a decent run of results, even if their next game away to Ulster looks a formidable task. “It doesn’t get any easier - we go to Belfast next week, next Monday night, and we need to have a good week’s training.
“Yeah, we’ll try and build. It’s a tough one at the moment, I’m pretty gutted, I think everyone in the changing room is. But I’m sure when we review it there will be a few quick fixes, hopefully, in our defence, and we can try and build on that for next week.”
The Leinster match was the first of a series of Monday-night fixtures for the Warriors, and Horne admitted there was a very different feel to the week leading up to the game. “It was so bizarre. You know, the weirdest thing was Saturday morning - getting up on a Saturday and coming in . . . Normally you’re getting ready for game day, you’re excited, and instead we had a full day’s training.
“It was so weird. I think it’s almost harder for the families as well. Their week just revolves around our games.
“Sunday as well. Coming in and doing a team run and then going up the road, it felt like a Friday. And for it to be a Sunday and everyone’s kind of sleepy . . . .
“It’s something we’ll have to get used to. We’ve got quite a few Monday-night games, so we’ll get used to it, I’m sure.”
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