Rob Herring talks us through the break, the table, leadership and facing Glasgow...
// ON the break…
It has been over three weeks now since we’ve played, so it’s a bit of an itch that everyone is dying to scratch. We can’t wait to get back out there and play some competitive rugby and put in a good performance on Friday night.
// ON the significance of the break…
It came just at the right time for us, 16 games is a long stretch, and it’s not something we are used to. With PRO12 rugby and the Champions Cup – we normally have more breaks in between, it was good for the guys to get a rest before we head into five very tough games.
The break has allowed a couple of guys to get back from injury, and it’s good to have new faces back in the squad, they always bring that extra bit of energy and extra bit of desire to perform, so it’s good to have fresh faces and fresh voices in the mix this week.
// ON a run of huge games…
We are coming in to five massively important games, hopefully seven! – After the down week there is a real freshness amongst the squad at the moment, the tempo in training has been incredible these past few days and we were pushed really hard last week by the coaches. Guys are fresh and they are ready to go.
// ON Glasgow…
Glasgow have a very good squad, not just their starting XV but their top 30 players are all pretty good and Gregor Townsend tends to mix them up, so you don’t really know who will be in the match squad. Whether they have the Scottish guys back or not, it is going to be a very tough match.
Defensively they scramble really well and they are hard to breakdown – they fight hard for each other to protect their try line, so it will be tough to break them down, especially when we get into that 22m zone. In attack, their offload game is also an area for us to watch out for. They have some pretty exciting guys who can take offloads out of nowhere and make them look easy. They always have runners coming on to balls, they are dangerous from anywhere in the park, so that is something we will have to stop.
// ON leadership…
Its not just Rory and I, there are a lot of senior players around and my job as captain is pretty easy because I have other leaders around. Paddy Jackson takes a lot of responsibility, he takes the game where he wants to go in terms of calling and patterns. There are a lot of vocal guys on the squad with a lot of experience, which is a good thing.
// ON match prep…
We had a tough week last week, despite not having a match. The coaches pushed us hard, we probably did more running than we would if we had a game, we are aware of the significance of this weekend, the guys are fresh and we are looking forward to it.
// ON watching the table…
This is a massive game for both teams, with an eight-point swing at stake. If we get the win on Friday night, immediately we are up there looking for a home play-off, but at the same time, it's important to take it one game at a time. We are focused on Glasgow right now; a win will put us in a good position.
To be honest, it's tough to not get caught up in the table. You are always looking around and the top seven is so tight. But we can’t worry about that too much, we can only control what we can, which is the game on Friday night. Hopefully if we can perform consistently well over the course of the next five games, then we can begin to focus on the play-off stages.
// ON the break…
It has been over three weeks now since we’ve played, so it’s a bit of an itch that everyone is dying to scratch. We can’t wait to get back out there and play some competitive rugby and put in a good performance on Friday night.
// ON the significance of the break…
It came just at the right time for us, 16 games is a long stretch, and it’s not something we are used to. With PRO12 rugby and the Champions Cup – we normally have more breaks in between, it was good for the guys to get a rest before we head into five very tough games.
The break has allowed a couple of guys to get back from injury, and it’s good to have new faces back in the squad, they always bring that extra bit of energy and extra bit of desire to perform, so it’s good to have fresh faces and fresh voices in the mix this week.
// ON a run of huge games…
We are coming in to five massively important games, hopefully seven! – After the down week there is a real freshness amongst the squad at the moment, the tempo in training has been incredible these past few days and we were pushed really hard last week by the coaches. Guys are fresh and they are ready to go.
// ON Glasgow…
Glasgow have a very good squad, not just their starting XV but their top 30 players are all pretty good and Gregor Townsend tends to mix them up, so you don’t really know who will be in the match squad. Whether they have the Scottish guys back or not, it is going to be a very tough match.
Defensively they scramble really well and they are hard to breakdown – they fight hard for each other to protect their try line, so it will be tough to break them down, especially when we get into that 22m zone. In attack, their offload game is also an area for us to watch out for. They have some pretty exciting guys who can take offloads out of nowhere and make them look easy. They always have runners coming on to balls, they are dangerous from anywhere in the park, so that is something we will have to stop.
// ON leadership…
Its not just Rory and I, there are a lot of senior players around and my job as captain is pretty easy because I have other leaders around. Paddy Jackson takes a lot of responsibility, he takes the game where he wants to go in terms of calling and patterns. There are a lot of vocal guys on the squad with a lot of experience, which is a good thing.
// ON match prep…
We had a tough week last week, despite not having a match. The coaches pushed us hard, we probably did more running than we would if we had a game, we are aware of the significance of this weekend, the guys are fresh and we are looking forward to it.
// ON watching the table…
This is a massive game for both teams, with an eight-point swing at stake. If we get the win on Friday night, immediately we are up there looking for a home play-off, but at the same time, it's important to take it one game at a time. We are focused on Glasgow right now; a win will put us in a good position.
To be honest, it's tough to not get caught up in the table. You are always looking around and the top seven is so tight. But we can’t worry about that too much, we can only control what we can, which is the game on Friday night. Hopefully if we can perform consistently well over the course of the next five games, then we can begin to focus on the play-off stages.