All about the Irish for Glasgow Warriors as they bid to maintain top spot

Four of Glasgow Warriors’ first seven fixtures in the United Rugby Championship are against Irish opposition which at least gets them out of the way quickly.

George Turner is back in the Glasgow Warriors team after recovering from a bug. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Franco Smith’s side opened their season with an impressive bonus-point victory over an admittedly young Leinster side but went down the following week to Connacht away. On Saturday, they’ll take on Ulster at Scotstoun and then a week later it’s Munster in Cork to complete the set before the league breaks for a couple of weeks of European action.

It’s gone well so far for Glasgow who sit joint top of the URC with Leinster on 20 points after five rounds of fixtures where the one blemish has been the defeat in Galway. Such has been their home form that their only URC defeat at Scotstoun since October 2021 was to Munster in last season’s quarter-final. That doesn’t mean they’ll be taking Ulster lightly this weekend as they chase another bonus point win against the side which finished second in the regular standings last season.

“That’s what Franco’s been saying – a win’s a win but we need those bonus points and we need to stop other teams getting bonus points,” said George Turner, the Glasgow hooker. “It’s tight at the top at the moment and we’ve got another massive game against Ulster. If we can get five points and deny them getting a point it’ll be a big event in the league.

“It’s been a really good start. We’re joint top at the moment, although Franco’s not happy that we dropped a few points at Connacht away. And I think that’s the message so far: we’re doing really well but there’s a lot to improve, a lot to shore up. We can still have better performances.”

Last week’s home win over Benetton marked Turner’s return to the team for the first time since the Rugby World Cup. Scotland’s heavy defeat by Ireland still stings and while a win over Ulster wouldn’t compensate it would at least keep Glasgow at, or close to, the summit in the URC ahead of next weekend’s showdown with Munster in Cork.

“Ulster are a class team and a good test for us,” added Turner, whose return to club duties was delayed by a bug he picked up.