Glasgow need to get the perfect if belated start to their European Rugby Champions Cup against Northampton because the schedule they face later in the competition looks a brutal one.
The Warriors start their campaign a week late against Northampton Saints at a sold-out Scotstoun tonight after last week’s scheduled opener with Racing Metro 92 was postponed in the light of the tragic events in Paris a week ago.
Rescheduling of that and three other postponed matches is currently exercising the best minds from tournament organisers EPRC, but yesterday they ruled out playing the outstanding games either next week or the week after, before the third and fourth round of matches scheduled for the competition.
That means the next opportunity for Glasgow and Racing falls on January 9, the week before the penultimate round of matches, which could leave Glasgow facing a final three games in three weeks of the French club away, Northampton away and finally Racing again at home.
Nothing has been decided yet, but the Warriors are geared up to make the ideal start even if their preparation hasn’t been as well as they’d hoped, with many of the combinations in tonight’s team not having played together this season.
“It’s a balance, and we’ll only know better after the game,” said head coach Gregor Townsend, who has admitted to challenges in introducing their many international players back to the Warriors in the past. “There are definitely benefits in playing, things are tried out, players get full contact alongside their teammates, but there are downsides as well with the possibility of injuries.
“There should be a freshness in the group and a real desire to go out and play. You could tell there was an edge in training today and they are desperate to play.”
Having so many players at the World Cup – more than any other team in Europe – has far more benefits than detractions, believes Townsend.
“It was always a positive for us,” said the coach. “We could see new players coming through here and create more depth in our squad, but more importantly the players involved are coming back better players. They’ve played against some quality sides – you look at South Africa and Australia – and they’ve had to overcome different challenges against Japan, the USA and Samoa.
“It’s been a big bonus. I think the World Cup experience will help now and right throughout the season.”
Northampton, one of Townsend’s former clubs, were beaten at Scotstoun three years ago in a thrilling finish with Peter Horne’s last-gasp try – “one of the great highlights of our three years here” said the coach – and Glasgow have won their last six home games against English opposition in Europe.
“We’ve had a pretty good team for a while, before I got here,” said Townsend. “Our record against French sides is not so good, but this is a tough place for teams to come and play.
“It’s always good to go against quality teams, and they have a quality coaching group as well. Alex King came in last year and is a very good coach, and Dorian West has got that set piece going well.
“But what (head coach) Jim (Mallinder) has led at Northampton is real consistency. They’ve been a top-four team, even better, top two in the Premiership for the last five or six years. They’re a big threat to us.”
There have been no changes from the team that were named for Paris, with Townsend reckoning it would be unfair to change the team and the coaches believing that Saints and Racing are reasonably similar sides in style, relying on forward strength and setpiece.
“We’ve underperfromed in Europe in the past,” admitted Townsend. “We’ve played some good teams in that time and the competition is much tougher, but we haven’t played at our best over the six games, and that’s what we need to do, starting tomorrow.”
Glasgow team: Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Peter Horne, Sean Lamont; Finn Russell, Mike Blair; Ryan Grant, Pat MacArthur, Sila Puafisi; Leone Nakarawa,
Jonny Gray (capt); Rob Harley, Simone Favaro, Josh Strauss.
Replacements: Shalva Mamukashvili, Gordon Reid, Zander Fagerson, Tim Swinson, Ryan Wilson, Grayson Hart, Richie Vernon, Taqele Naiyaravoro.