Try-scorer Tommy Seymour turned pilferer of opposition scores against Ulster last week but the Scotland wing knows that more will be needed to turn around Glasgow’s terrible record in Dublin.
The Warriors are still on good course for a home semi-final in the Guinness PRO14 play-offs, and how much their focus is on setting standards was shown by the way Seymour got back to thwart Ulster twice with last-gasp tackles, even though the essential win and bonus point was already assured.
“Dave (Rennie) couldn’t have been that impressed because he took me off straight away after the second one,” joked Seymour. “In one respect it’s maybe worrying that I was fresh enough to get back both times.
“But I think it’s just a case of when we have leads as an excuse to back off or lower effort, we keep trying to set our stall out as a team that likes to work and put effort in all the time.”
Seymour still preferred his own try – slickly provided for him by Adam Hastings and Stuart Hogg’s fast hands – than the two he stopped, even denying his old friend Luke Marshall, who spilled the ball over the line under pressure from the Scot’s opportunistic challenge.
“I quite enjoyed the first one to be honest because I know Luke reasonably well, we used to play together at Ballymena and he was similar age group so we have a few academy years together,” he said. “We had a couple of words after the game.
“Touch wood, it’s never occurred to me but I suppose you need reminders that it can happen to anyone. They’re honest mistakes and genuinely I have a lot of sympathy when it happens to guys because 99.9% of the time guys aren’t trying to be clever in any way shape or form.”
Leinster are next up for the Warriors at the Royal Dublin Showgrounds, a venue where the club haven’t won since 2011 despite visits in regular season, semi-finals and finals during that time.
“We have to talk about Leinster and the RDS as that’s a place where we have not won in a long time, and it would be very special to do it now,” he said.
“Leinster are tricky regardless of what time of year it is. There’s been a couple of occasions we’ve come close and then let leads slip.
“That’s a motivating factor as much as anything else. We’re keen to go over there to what is one of the top sides in Europe, see where we are and set a marker down for the rest of the tournament.”
That spell of failing to win in Dublin has coincided with some fairly decent Leinster teams, he conceded, while this year’s team has swept to a home semi much as Glasgow did before faltering last season.
“You’ve got to give them a lot of props to be honest, they’ve been one of the mainstays in top flight European rugby for goodness knows how many years and they’re a pretty difficult team to roll over on their own patch,” continued Seymour.
“They’ve done well this season and wrapped up (their conference) very early, but I don’t think they’ve been like we were last season.
“We’re using last year, where we were and what it meant for our run in. It was important to realise mistakes made last year and where our mindset was.
“Yes, it is important to achieve a home semi but we also need the momentum and the confidence going into the play-off weeks. We’re using that, and Ulster was a great marker for us on the weekend.”
Glasgow confirmed the signing of two props for next season, loose head Charlie Capps and an extension for back-up tight-head Adam Nicol.
