Dragons v Glasgow: Lineen calls on players to back up Wasps performance and go out with a bang

GLASGOW coach Sean Lineen is fed up talking about consistency, knowing that, were his team to achieve the great 'Holy Grail' he has spent years searching for, they would actually be in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup and leading the Magners League.

Instead, they play their most common foe, the Newport Gwent Dragons, in Wales tomorrow in a final pool match with no bearing on the tournament, but with a side strengthened overall on that which pulled off the shock of the Heineken Cup's fifth round in beating Wasps at Firhill and seeking a rare European back-to-back triumph.

Ryan Grant is replaced at loosehead prop by Jon Welsh, his having suffered a facial injury and been unable to train most of the week and Welsh's return to form both factors, while DTH van der Merwe returns from his citizenship test in Canada and Aly Muldowney comes into the second row to afford a rest to Richie Gray, a likely performer for Scotland in the Six Nations Championship.

John Barclay and Max Evans are still resting minor injuries ahead of the Six Nations, and Johnnie Beattie is still in the pink and black of Ayr this weekend, but Lineen knows that the personnel for this final European match of the season is less important than what is in their heads, especially with ten Magners League games still to come.

"It's all about attitude and making sure we get it right," he said. "A lot of people are saying it's a 'dead rubber' and there's nothing to play for, but I'm pretty sure the guys running out on to that pitch won't think so.

"There's a bit of added spice that it's the Dragons and the healthy relationship we've got, and it's still the Heineken Cup. We also face the Dragons in the Magners League in a month's time and you will see two teams really going at it, there's no doubt about that.

"It's always good to play at Rodney Parade. I remember playing there myself decades ago (for Pontypool] and the crowd is fantastic and really get behind their team, so we have to work out ways of keeping them quiet.

"The Wasps game was fantastic, the attitude outstanding, the training was good during the week and we were playing against a former European champion so the fear factor was there. It's about backing that up now."

Glasgow have been performing consistently well over the past month, even in defeat to Edinburgh and Munster, but appreciate the difference between results and performances, shown clearly by their guaranteed third spot in the Heineken pool and tenth position in the league, where they sit a point below tomorrow's opponents despite having played an extra game.

Skipper Al Kellock acknowledged that this week's Scotland and A selections, which covers virtually every Scottish-qualified player in tomorrow's squad, had added to the Wasps win in giving the camp a lift, but there will also be a determination in the Dragons squad for last-minute pushes for international recognition this spring. Like Glasgow, Newport have players vying for international honours, with prop Phil Price one player moving closer to a squad place. They also produced a spirited performance in Toulouse last week before going down 17-3 at the Stade Ernest Wallon, and coach Paul Turner is confident his players can finish the campaign on a high at home and maintain a winning run over the Warriors at Rodney Parade stretching back two years.

He said: "It was a little bit backs-against-the-wall, but I was pleased with how we muscled up. We frustrated Toulouse - they expected to beat us easily but that wasn't the case. It's important to back up that performance this weekend. I wasn't surprised by Glasgow's win over Wasps - they're always capable of winning at home and it was a very strong performance. Their nine [Colin Gregor] played well, the pack, and [Al] Kellock, in particular, were superb. They have a good set-piece and are well-coached. Their ten [Ruaridh Jackson] is playing better and they were without some major players in [Graeme] Morrison, [John] Barclay and [Max] Evans."

Glasgow's ability to outshine Wasps at Firhill proved that many of their fringe performers have the physical and mental strength to push their way back up the Magners League, with Gregor at the heart of that. The test they have failed too often has been to demonstrate that on the road, which is where this game is as important as any in Glasgow's entire season.

Kellock said: "We have to go down there and not focus too hard on them, but go out and play our game. We talked last week about our expectations and what we wanted to do against Wasps and it's exactly the same this week. Each player will have things that motivate him as an individual, and, as a team, it's about keeping the momentum that we've built up over the last few weeks and making sure that doesn't slip off. If you look at games in the past [at Newport] we've maybe been short on our physicality, or looked second best for decent periods of the game, generally at the beginning, and that can't happen again. The Dragons are an exceptionally good team when they get their tails up and if we don't make them know they're in for a battle from minute one then we'll end up on the losing side."