GIVEN the punishing intensity of matches in the Six Nations Championship, it would be no surprise if many players felt in need of a break at the end of it. Instead, at least as far as Scotland’s Glasgow Warriors contingent are concerned, a change is as good as a rest, and for most of them that should mean an immediate return to PRO12 action at home to Connacht tomorrow.
Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend will name his team for that match today, and Tommy Seymour for one cannot wait to turn out for the club again. After ending the Six Nations on a high with a try in the 29-0 win over Italy, the winger has felt inspired by his return to the day job at Scotstoun, and is looking forward to resuming the fight to get into the play-off places in the league.
“It’s a long tournament – it’s also made longer for a reason as well, in order to try and have those couple of rest weeks in between to allow the players to prepare bodies and for squads to keep training numbers as high as possible,” Seymour said of the Six Nations. “There’s a lot of energy that goes into international rugby, and it’s of such a high intensity that your body definitely goes through it.
“But being able to come back here in Glasgow, back in your home club, I think that does give you a reboot of energy. Seeing old faces you might not have seen for a while and being back in a day-to-day environment you’re very comfortable with is always great. So although the body certainly does feel it, everyone’s keen to get back and get involved again with the club.”
Given the improvements made by Scotland in the Championship this season, it comes as no surprise that Seymour is confident they can build on their success in the years to come, and that Glasgow will also benefit when the national team’s coaches move from Murrayfield to Scotstoun this summer.
The victory against Italy was Vern Cotter’s last as head coach of Scotland, and he will be replaced by Townsend in time for the summer tour to Australia. At the same time, Cotter’s assistants Jason O’Halloran and Jonathan Humphreys will join new Warriors coach Dave Rennie. Seymour is sure they have lots more to offer – and so, he explained, was Cotter when he spoke to the squad after the Italy game.
“As Vern was keen to point out and I think all the players believe, it’s not the end of something, it’s very much the beginning,” Seymour said. “We’ll be looking to continue that work.
“We still have a lot we can achieve.”
Glasgow need to win tomorrow to keep their play-off hopes alive, and can expect a tougher fight than they got in Ireland on the first weekend of the season, when they beat Connacht 41-5. The champions have recovered from a slow start to the season, and are now seven points behind the Warriors with a game in hand.
“Connacht has been some massive fixtures for us in the last few years and I don’t think this one will be very different. We can’t afford to make many more mistakes in the league, and they’ll be keen to get back at us from the start of the year.
“It’ll be a huge fixture. Hopefully the weather stands strong and we can have a good game of rugby.”
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