Glasgow’s huge squad and rotation policy for selection is “frustrating” for players at times, admits Fraser Brown, but it’s huge reason the Warriors are top of the Guinness PRO12.
The Scotland hooker is not immune from the “Toonie Tombola” selection policy of head coach Gregor Townsend and his staff – he was one of 12 omitted for last week’s game against Zebre, but is likely to be back for the crucial quarter-final meeting with Connacht in Galway tomorrow.
And while the desire of the players is always to play as much as possible, the benefits to Glasgow’s winning system are obvious.
“If you ask the players, the rotation is pretty frustrating because no one doesn’t want to play,” said Brown. “This game at the weekend, everyone wants to play in it. I don’t want to give other guys a chance in my position.
“But the S&C (strength and conditioning) team, Gregor and the other coaches manage the whole squad really well, and obviously they have a bigger plan than us, not just a game coming up at the weekend.
“They know what they’re doing and they’ve manage the squad really well for the past couple of years.
“Last year was a prime example because they topped it off by winning the league. Hopefully, guys are feeling fresh again and it seems to be working again this year.”
A fresh side with nine wins in a row has driven the Warriors to the top of the table with one game left, and Brown puts that down to the work done while the squad’s “stars” were away.
“It all goes back to the work that the guys did during the Six Nations,” he said.
“We had some very important games in that period – against Dragons, Cardiff and especially the two against Leinster and Ulster.
“When the guys came back from the championship you could see that everything had been ramped up in training and then the week we had in Italy was perfectly timed almost as a squad bonding experience.”
Now the squad are flush with momentum and confidence, and training is a competitive and often edgy environment.
“It does get that way in training but guys wouldn’t be pushing each other if they didn’t.
“You want a bit of niggle, guys to be having a go at each other, doing stuff that is illegal, because you’re going to get that at the weekend. If you don’t do it in training you’re not going to be prepared for it.”
Preparation has been roughly similar this week, with Connacht the rising force in the league formidable on their own patch.
“They have a very similar kind of gameplan to us, I think they are the only team in the league that keep the ball in hand more than we do,” continued Brown.
“It’s going to be a fast, free-flowing game, no matter whether it’s raining, dry or windy.
“In the last couple of weeks we’ve played teams who like to keep the ball tight. I don’t think we’ll see that this week, especially with Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw in the centre.
“Connacht can be very direct at times, but they also like to put a bit of width on the ball. They are a very good team across the park and they are going to test us defensively.”
Having won the title last year, defending has been a tough assignment, but it’s not a collection of cups and medals Brown is concerned with.
“We had Gordon Strachan in last week and he was emphasising this; people will assess your career by the medals and championships you win, but for the players you don’t remember lifting cups or getting to finals.
“You remember the feeling in the changing room after a big win. Last year, after winning the final, the three or four hours afterwards was what I remember, sharing it with friends and family.
“You always want that. You want to win the championship, but you want to have that feeling with the rest of the guys, not just the 23 but everyone, whether they are in the S&C team, the guys who run the GPS, the physios.
“Everyone in the club has one goal at the end of the year and that’s winning the championship. It’s that feeling at the end of the year that you’re striving for.”
