David Ferguson: Rallying call after defeat at Gloucester paved the way for inter-city double

DAN Parks had called on Glasgow to "go out and win the game" before facing Edinburgh in Saturday's 1872 Cup return at Murrayfield, and his half-back partner Chris Cusiter hailed that very psyche as being the reason for Glasgow achieving their first Scottish double in the Magners League.

There were signs of Glasgow turning something of a corner when they defeated Gloucester convincingly at Firhill in the Heineken Cup, but when they fell off the pace in the second half at Kingsholm, having built up a half-time lead, the same fragile belief suggested any steps made had been smaller than were hoped.

Cusiter's response after the Kingsholm loss was to round on the players and tell them it was their own fault, that they had gone south simply to hold on. Parks responded and turned in two commanding displays at fly-half, varying his play enough to ensure his back line saw some ball and his left and right boots plenty too.

Cusiter had recovered from a head knock to play at the weekend, at least for the first hour, but he felt satisfied that the players had responded to his call.

"It is hugely pleasing to get those eight points from two wins," he said. "It's massive in terms of the Magners League.

"We did speak about the Gloucester game and how we played very well at home and then went away and didn't perform, so this was a great chance to play a team back to back and prove that we could create that same intensity for two games, and we did it so I'm really pleased.

"I do think we had a different mindset this week. We went out to win the game. We knew that Edinburgh would play more than they did last week and we had to reverse that pressure by playing ourselves. We scored two really good tries, which is pleasing in a tight game like that."

The Glasgow camp had been a bit miffed at suggestions that their game suits a narrow pitch like Firhill and that Edinburgh would benefit from the return to a wider and longer Murrayfield, and that was clearly a motivating factor too.

Cusiter added: "To be honest, I really don't understand that sort of chat. I read that the pitch is only a metre wider at each side, and with the players we have out wide – Max and Thom (Evans] and DTH (van der Merwe] – it doesn't make sense that we wouldn't want to play a wider game anyway.

"We just played as normal. We defended really well. For them not to score a try in two games was a massive plus for our defence. They (Edinburgh] play a nice game to watch, I suppose. At the start of the second half they were moving it wider and wider, but they weren't going through us or round us, and we were quite comfortable with that."

Those last words were significant and point to the problem Edinburgh have had in the past and must solve now: the ability to threaten and pierce defensive lines. But for Glasgow it is onwards and upwards with Leinster now the big target at the RDS Arena in Dublin with around 18,000 home fans expected on Friday night looking for Brian O'Driscoll's former league champions to topple the upstarts from Scotland.

Glasgow skipper Alastair Kellock enjoyed a good tussle with Scott MacLeod and Jim Hamilton in recent weeks, two men vying for his Scotland jersey, and now comes up against Nathan Hines, whom he partnered in all three recent autumn Tests.

Smiling, Kellock said: "I'm looking forward to that – he's an abrasive character and he's going well over there and they're going well as a team.

"But every game is massive for us now. We've put ourselves in a great position and we have to have that same attitude for the remaining games as we've had so far, to go out there and win the game. They have some superstars but we have some superstars too – Kelly Brown has been absolutely incredible for us in the last two weeks – back to his best.

"We have a good, competitive squad now and I think that's probably the main difference. We have kept the team together and ideally will do so again. Success breeds success. We're inching our way up.

"The way some of the young guys have stepped up this season is fantastic.

"Guys who were really young when I first came to the club, like John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie, Richie Vernon and now Richie Gray, and Jon Welsh, who doesn't get a lot of plaudits, have developed so much to give us the strength in depth that when we go out there now we don't fear anybody, which is a good position to be in.

"They (Leinster] are going to be very good, they're always good when we play them, but if we can keep our standards high then hopefully we can get something."