A FIVE-YEAR period of unprecedented success for Glasgow Warriors comes to an end today when Gregor Townsend takes charge of the team for the last time in the 1872 Cup match against Edinburgh. Or, more accurately, Townsend’s involvement comes to an end: the man himself is convinced that there is no reason for the success to end, and that, while he is moving on to replace Vern Cotter as Scotland coach, the squad he leaves behind are well placed to keep on getting better in the seasons to come.
The 2015 PRO12 title was the obvious highlight of the former Scotland stand-off’s time at the helm, and in the two seasons since the Warriors have not hit those heights again in the league. But they did hint at some unrealised potential by reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup this season for the first time, even if they lost convincingly to Saracens, and Townsend thinks that even the underachievements of this season will help the squad learn to perform under new coach Dave Rennie.
“The disappointments of this season and the learnings that we had will add or improve the team for next year,” Townsend said yesterday after naming his team for the home cup game, which the Warriors go into with a 25-12 lead from the first leg back on Boxing Day. “Because we had a few injuries prior to November, the fact we had so many players away at the Six Nations has enabled players like Nick Grigg and Scott Cummings to play against Leinster and Munster, to play at tough environments like Ravenhill and the Liberty Stadium, and perform well in those arenas.
“The coaching staff coming in, spearheaded by Dave Rennie, is a real strong fit from what works here – strong culture, hard-working players and a real skill-and-attack focus. I’m looking forward to seeing how they play and I know they’re going to improve and get better “The other thing was finally making the breakthrough in Europe. Although the quarter-final didn’t go the way we wanted it to, we got there and the players have that experience. Next time they’ll be working hard to get beyond the quarter-final.
“We lost a PRO12 final and then went and won it. It’s been a valuable learning year with a lot of positives, and it would be great to finish with a win and a trophy.”
Townsend’s record with the Warriors speaks for itself, and players such as Peter Horne have explained this week how much the coach has improved them as individuals and as a team. Horne recalled that improvement being evident from the first few training pre-season training sessions, and then becoming blindingly obvious in the opening games of the 2012-13 season, when the team was far more dangerous.
But Townsend insisted that such a rapid improvement spoke volumes about the players’ willingness and ability to learn, and said it was clear when he arrived at Scotstoun that the team was going places.
“I always thought there was great potential here, and already there were a lot of good things happening,” he explained. “The team had a really good defensive record the season before, which proved how hard they worked for each other. It was a solid base.”
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