GLASGOW WARRIORS URGED TO TAKE LEAF OUT OF MUNSTER’S BOOK AS UPDATE GIVEN ON INJURED TRIO

Table-toppers fly to South Africa to face Bulls and Lions

Winning in South Africa is the toughest test for northern hemisphere sides in the United Rugby Championship but Glasgow Warriors have been urged to take a leaf out of Munster’s book over the next couple of weeks.

Franco Smith’s squad are four points clear at the top of the table and will fly to Johannesburg on Tuesday ahead of matches against the Bulls on Saturday and the Lions a week later. They have one more regular season fixture to come after that, at home to Zebre, and know what they do in these three matches will determine whether they have home advantage in the play-offs.

This is the third year of the URC but Glasgow are still looking for their first win on South African soil. Munster, last season’s champions, have proven to be the European side with the best record and have just returned from South Africa having beaten both the teams the Warriors will face.

It follows on from last year’s exploits when the Irish side beat the Stormers and drew with the Sharks at the end of the regular season then pulled off a huge upset by defeating the Stormers again in the final in Cape Town.

“Munster showed it can be done,” said Pete Murchie, the Glasgow defence coach. “They went over there and won two games. Ultimately if you want to finish high up in the league you need to pick up results in South Africa. Munster have done it, back to back with exactly the games that we’ve got. We’re going out there to give everything we’ve got. Certainly not going to use excuses of things like altitude that we know are there and will always be there. It’s pointless. We’ve got a pretty clear plan for going over there and Munster have been shown it can be done.”

Glasgow have been encouraged by the progress made by injured front-row players Johnny Matthews, Oli Kebble and Jamie Bhatti who are expected to travel. Saturday’s game against the fourth-placed Bulls at Loftus Versfeld may come too soon for Matthews and Kebble who both picked up ankle injuries in the home win over the Sharks but Bhatti should be available, as is hooker Angus Fraser who has recovered from a concussion.

2024-05-06T21:03:05Z dg43tfdfdgfd