Matt Fagerson insists more to come from Glasgow Warriors as he revels in Scotstoun atmosphere

Warriors are joint top of the URC but not fully satisfied with start to season

Matt Fagerson insists Glasgow Warriors still have room for improvement despite a strong start to the season. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Franco Smith sets high standards at Glasgow Warriors and even a bonus point win over the only unbeaten team in the league wasn’t enough to completely satisfy the coach.

The Scotstoun side scored four good tries from open play in the 26-12 win over Benetton at the weekend and now share top spot in the United Rugby Championship with Leinster after five rounds of fixtures. But there remains a feeling that there is a lot more to come from this squad, particularly in attack.

“It’s easy to be harsh on yourselves in review after a bonus point win like that against an unbeaten team,” said Matt Fagerson, the Glasgow back-rower. “It was Franco’s old team and he knew a lot of the players and coaches so he was happy on Monday. But as players we set high standards. We probably feel like we haven’t fired too many shots in attack this year. We’ve got a great attack structure but we’ve probably just not been stringing the phases together that we want. That’s something we’ve been working on.”

They will have another opportunity on Saturday evening when Ulster come to Scotstoun. Like Glasgow, they have won four and lost one of their URC games this season but trail the Warriors by a couple of bonus points. Smith’s team are a formidable proposition on their own artificial turf and you have to go back to October 2021 for the last time Glasgow lost at Scotstoun in the regular season, although they did go down at home to Munster in last season's URC quarter-final.

"It’s an impressive record and one that means a lot to the players,” said Fagerson. “We pride ourselves on playing for our fans at our home ground.

"We call it The Fortress and always want to do well. We’re trying to take that into our away games as well. Every time we play at home we give 100 per cent and that’s the standard and everyone knows that.

“The fans make so much noise and make it such an incredible atmosphere so it’s only right that you give everything for them. That shows in the way that we play here. The crowd is so close to the pitch that you can really hear them, especially the chants from the East Stand. And having your friends and family coming to watch you will always be special. You’ve got that extra bit to play for. It’s an awesome place to be.”

Fagerson has now played three times for Glasgow since returning from the Rugby World Cup and feels the transition back into the club game has been seamless for the Warriors’ international players. He was involved in all four of Scotland’s games in France but only started once, against Romania, a source of frustration for the 25-year-old flanker. However, injuries to Jamie Ritchie in the first half of the games against Tonga and Ireland meant Fagerson played most of both matches.

“I wanted to be starting,” he said. “That was probably the biggest thing going into the World Cup. That was the goal that I had set myself so that was frustrating from that point of view. Jamie pulled up with a couple of injuries so I probably then got more game time than I’d expected coming off the bench. It was an awesome experience and a great team to be a part of including all the staff and coaches. It was just disappointing that we didn’t achieve the goal that we went out there with.”