Glasgow 24-3 Connacht: Warriors win but must improve in Dublin

Edinburgh achieved a historic feat in reaching the Heineken Cup semi-final but were left to rue what might have been against Ulster. After dousing the fire of Connacht on Saturday night to claim a surprising first win in five games against the Galway men, the Warriors head to the Irish capital this Saturday to face European champions Leinster in the Royal Dublin Society Showground. Kellock believes that the improvement in the Glasgow psyche since they last reached the play-offs in 2010, and lost away to the Ospreys, is such that a semi-final is no longer enough to satisfy the desire for success.

The odds against them beating Brian O’Driscoll’s Leinster, who rested key players from their league match on Saturday to ensure they are at full-strength for the semi-final with Glasgow, are stiff. But after leaving Firhill on Saturday night with a well-received speech of thanks to the terrific 5,000-plus crowd – who again showed great support for the departing coaches Sean Lineen and Gary Mercer, and clutch of players led by the hugely popular skipper-for-the-night Federico Arambaru – Kellock insisted that a first final appearance was eminently achievable.

“If we learned anything from two years ago it’s that we’re aiming for the top,” he said. “We’ve got two more games as far as we’re concerned. It will be tough to go over there and get the win but we’ll give it everything.

“It is a success to get there [to the semi-finals] but it’s not the success that we’re after. The success we’re after is to win it. We haven’t been tapping ourselves on the back, and there haven’t been any big celebrations. It’s all about the next two weeks.

“There weren’t celebrations as such two years ago, but mentally that shows how much we’ve moved on. Two years ago it was probably an even bigger achievement to make it, but because we’ve now backed it up it’s about doing more.

“We went down to the Ospreys two years ago and played well and put in a good performance. They were just a little bit better than us. But we’ve definitely got things we can improve on and lessons we’ve learned since then.”

They will need to learn from Saturday’s game too, as despite great early work by the pack in the set-piece and a good tempo, with John Barclay and Chris Fusaro providing a good lead up front and fly-half Duncan Weir mixing it up well, when in front the Warriors too easily allowed Connacht back into the game and into their 22.

Once there, the Irishmen found Glasgow’s defence hard and unstinting, but give Rob Kearney et al an invite to the 22 and it will be a whole different matter. Glasgow led Connacht 11-3 at half-time with van der Merwe showing his worth with a slick finish of an excellent team try, and the win was wrapped up when Barclay flopped on the ball after a superb scrum drive from the hosts.

Glasgow needed to win to be sure of qualifying, with Scarlets beating Cardiff, but they will need a more complete and consistent performance to trouble a Leinster team in a packed RDS ground building momentum for a Heineken Cup final – their third in four years – the following week. But they will not play as poorly again as they did in the Heineken Cup match in Dublin, and Glasgow have shown that when they grasp a game with a physical forward effort and play tactically well, they can limit O’Driscoll’s influence and put a lid on the Irish side’s attacking threat.

In Weir they have a kicking metronome, and in Stuart Hogg and Van der Merwe two proven finishers, so it is far from mission impossible.

“I’m sure it will be a step-up, just because it’s so vital,” Kellock acknowledged. “But we’ve shown in some of the wins we’ve had that we have the right calibre for that kind of rugby, and to go and get wins on the road, including at Leinster earlier in the season [during the World Cup] which the boys will take confidence from.

“After the [Heineken Cup] game there where we were beaten up pretty badly there was a real change in us, a real focus put on things that weren’t acceptable, and we’ve taken some massive steps forward since that game.

“They are a quality team, the best in the league, best in Europe I would say, but we have nothing to lose over there and we’ll go for the win.

“But it’s not just a case of pitching up there and getting it right. It’s about building the momentum, from coming in with the right attitude on Tuesday morning, training well and carrying it through the week, and that will be a squad thing.

“Sean will name his team but it’s up to everyone else involved, and that’s what has got us there. That’s why we’ve been so good because the guys not involved in the team have given their all for us to get the win.”

He added: “We’ve done it all this year. We’ve won well, we’ve won ugly, we’ve lost games we should have won and vice versa, and drawn a lot of games, so we have to make sure that all the experience we have from this season we use in this game. There’s no point in leaving anything in the changing rooms. We have to make it count. We have to make sure we’ve learned lessons from games in the past and get it right on Saturday.”

Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: DTH Van Der Merwe, Barclay; Pens: Weir 4; Con: Jackson. Connacht: Pen: Nikora.

Glasgow: S Hogg; F Aramburu (capt), A Dunbar, G Morrison, DTH van der Merwe; D Weir, H Pyrgos; J Welsh, D Hall, M Low, R Gray, T Ryder, R Harley, C Fusaro, J Barclay. Subs: R Grant for Welsh, P MacArthur for Hall, both 51mins, R Jackson for Weir, H Pyrgos for Cusiter, A Kellock for Gray, M Cusack for Low, C Shaw for van der Merwe, all 60, C Forrester for Fusaro 68.

Connacht: G Duffy (capt); K Tonetti, E Griffin, H Fa’afili, O’Halloran; M Nikora, F Murphy; D Buckley, A Flavin, Loughney, M Swift, M McCarthy, J Muldoon, J O’Connor, G Naoupu. Subs: R Ah You for Buckley 51mins, P O’Donohoe for F Murphy 62, R Ofisa for O’Connor 53, A Jarvis for Nikora 55, J Loxton for O’Halloran 56, Maguire for Loughney, Kearney for Swift, both 65, D Murphy for Flavin 70.