‘Not demoralising, just disappointing’ - why Glasgow Warriors will use Munster as inspiration in play-off bid

Results over the weekend saw them drop from first place to fourth ahead of the final round of regular season games. They are guaranteed to finish in the top four which means they will be at home for the play-off quarter-finals but the likelihood is that they will be on the road if they progress beyond the last eight.

Munster, the Bulls and Leinster are now all above them in the URC standings but it’s tight at the top with only three points separating the top four. Glasgow have the easiest of final-round fixtures, on paper at least. They play bottom club Zebre at Scotstoun on May 31, while Leinster host Connacht, the Bulls travel to Durban to play the Sharks and Munster take on Ulster in Limerick.

Saturday’s 44-21 defeat by the Lions in Johannesburg was a reality check for the Warriors, particularly as the visitors had a numerical advantage for the whole of the second half and part of the first. Kyle Steyn acknowledged it was a “test of character” but the club captain was adamant that back-to-back defeats in South Africa would not compromise the progress that went before.

“It’s not demoralising, it is just disappointing,” said Steyn. “There had been a massive amount of work behind the scenes done to make sure we were prepared for these two games from the coaches and staff.”

Glasgow trailed 8-7 at the break but the Lions began the second half with 13 men following a red card for Ruan Venter and a yellow for Francke Horn and the visitors scored early through Euan Ferrie’s try, adding to the one scored by Kyle Rowe in the first half. But the Lions then blew Glasgow away with four tries in 10 minutes, Edwill van der Merwe, Rabz Maxwane (his second of the game), JC Pretorious and Sanele Nohamba all scoring. Josh McKay got one back for the Warriors but Hanru Sirgel had the final say with the Lions’ sixth try.

“There were lots of lessons for us to take on the chin and look at,” said Steyn. “It will be a fairly honest review. There will be no hints of complacency. [Zebre] is the last regular season game at home in front of our home fans so there is plenty to play for.”

The prospect of potentially playing a semi-final and final away from home did not unduly faze the winger who cited the example of last season’s champions Munster who played all three of their play-off games on the road.

“We would have loved to have played as many games [as we can] at Scotstoun and to play those games in front of our fans but …you look at last year Munster won all their three games away from home so it can be done,” said Steyn. “It is a test of character for this group now and we can’t look too far ahead to that semi-final because we have a game at home against Zebre and then the quarter-finals so there is lots to focus on until we get there.”