Connacht Rugby must hit season high to take down Glasgow in URC quarter-final
CONNACHT Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said that while they have nothing to lose as they head to Scotland for a URC quarter-final showdown with Glasgow Warriors, they will go to Scotstoun with confidence.
His side are the form team in the URC with eight wins from their last nine league games and their 15-10 win over Glasgow back in February was one of the victories which kickstarted their superb run to the knockout stages.
That win – their first at the redeveloped Dexcom Stadium – was the second in their run of eight victories with Seán Jansen dotting down the winner with the clock in the red.
“There'll be a respect in us, obviously,” said Lancaster. “But equally, we have nothing to lose. We've definitely got a lot of momentum behind us. We've a strong, confident group. We're fit, we're in good shape. And go there with confidence.
“We recognise the game here was the turning point in our season. But equally, we also recognise there's a lot of good players not playing that game. And we scored in the last play.
“So, it's going to be a real, significant challenge. But it's one we've been building for for the season, to be honest. And I think we're ready for it now, for sure.”
The clash against Glasgow Warriors, similar to the win in February in Galway, will again see father and son in opposition with Lancaster’s son Dan part of the Glasgow squad who started at out half in that match.
“Well, I don't even know if he's playing,” admitted Lancaster. “We were on no-speaking terms! Adam Hastings is back so I honestly genuinely don't know if Dan is playing.
“He's played well recently, to be fair. He played well against Ulster and he's one of the multi-duty threats.
“But the way in which Franco (Smith) shapes the attack, and obviously you guys know Nigel (Carolan) pretty well, there's always threats in every position,” added Lancaster.
Connacht received a triple boost ahead of the clash with scrumhalf Caolin Blade (wrist), hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin (ankle) and winger Finn Treacy (hamstring) all returning to full training and available for selection but the build-up was also hampered by injury concerns to key players such as Dave Heffernan and Seán Jansen.
Connacht will need to buck the trend of results in Glasgow. They have never won at Scotstoun since Warriors started playing there in 2012 and only won twice in 19 visits to the city, once at Hughenden and the other at Firhill, the home of Partick Thistle FC.
Connacht are very much in bonus territory at this stage of the season and victory over Glasgow Warriors would set up an away semi-final against either the Bulls or Munster.
Next season will see Connacht back in the Champions Cup with a squad bolstered by Lancaster’s first signings, the biggest of which is the move by Ciaran Frawley from Leinster to rejoin his former coach.
And Lancaster agreed that the superb cameo produced off the bench by Frawley for Leinster in the Champions Cup final on Saturday is exactly what he’s looking for when the 28-year-old arrives in Galway next season.
“Obviously it was difficult circumstances for anyone to come on in, but I thought he did really well,” added Lancaster. “He definitely tried to get the game moving and tried to develop the attack”