The securing of a bonus point victory with a fourth try early in Friday’s second half represented something of a statement in itself, but at least as telling was the desperation shown by Tommy Seymour with last ditch tackles that prevented Ulster from adding to their try that had started the scoring at the beginning of the first half.
“Obviously it’s nice to help the team win,” said the Lions winger. “I quite enjoyed the first one because I know Luke Marshall reasonably well. We used to play together at Ballymena and we have a few academy years together, so we had a couple of words after the game.”
Seymour had not been fit to play in the previous week’s Champions Cup quarter-final at Saracens, so as a senior player it was important that he brought that sort of enthusiasm, whether or not it was fully appreciated.
“Maybe it’s a worrying thing that I was too fresh, I had the energy to get back, but Dave (Rennie, their head coach) couldn’t have been that impressed because he took me off straight away afterwards,” he said of that second effort, denying Rob Lyttle late in the game. “It’s just a case of trying to set our stall out as a team that likes to work and put effort in on every occasion,” Seymour went on. “For me it was an opportunity to get back out there after being injured for a while.”
Time out due to injury is always unwelcome, but Seymour is feeling the benefit as Glasgow prepare for the forthcoming Pro14 play-offs with a first target of defending the three point lead that separates them from Munster at the top of their Conference and so enhance their chances of savouring a first ever Pro14 Grand Final in their home city, at Celtic Park.
“We know it’s a massive factor have a home semi final and having that chance to get a bit of extra rest in the legs as well,” said Seymour. “We’re feeling good and we’re confident and training very well so I’d like to think we’re in a good place mentally as well as physically. You don’t want to look to far down the road. The home semi-final right now is probably the most you can look at, but obviously it would be lovely to play in our home city and allow our friends to experience a big game like that in our own city would be amazing.”
This weekend sees them make the journey that they could do without repeating if they are to make it to Parkhead, then, a visit to Dublin that would be unavoidable if they fail to keep Munster at bay. Glasgow have not won in the Irish capital since 2011.
“Leinster would be tricky regardless of what time of year it is,” said Seymour.
“They’ve done great and pretty much wrapped things up for themselves (at the top of Conference B). For us it’s a case of yes, we’ve got play-offs to think about and semi-finals, but we also talk about the RDS and Leinster. That’s a place where we have not won in a long time and that would be very special.
“There’s been a couple of occasions we’ve come close and then let leads slip. That’s a motivating factor as much as anything else. We’re keen to go over there to what is one of the top sides in Europe, see where we are and set a marker down for the rest of the tournament.
“They’ve been one of the mainstays in top flight European rugby for goodness knows how many years and they’re a pretty difficult team to roll over on their own patch, so there’s been little things we’ve got wrong on the day and obviously also the quality they have on the park.”
Leinster’s current situation in the Pro14 is similar to Glasgow’s last season, when they knew they would have a home semi-final weeks before the end of the scheduled league matches, but Seymour does not believe the Dubliners will let it affect them as it appeared to affect the Warriors when they lost their momentum.
“I wouldn’t really expect it of a team like Leinster,” he said, aware that Leinster are also preparing for another Champions Cup semi-final.
“But we’re using last year especially to where we were and what it meant for our run in more for us. It’s a focusing factor for guys who hadn’t been part of it and the new structure system, it was important to realise mistakes made last year and where our mindset was… how important it is to yes, achieve a home semi, but also have the momentum and the confidence going into the play-off weeks. We’re using that and Ulster was a great marker for us on the weekend. We’ll have to continue that.”
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