THOSE Glasgow Warriors players who were appearing in front of their home crowd for the final occasion on Friday night could hardly have hoped for a better send-off. Their 70-10 win over Zebre took them to the top of the PRO12 table for the first time this season, and set them up perfectly for the showdown with Connacht in Ireland on Saturday.
Win that game, and the Warriors will have a home semi-final - very possibly against Connacht themselves. Lose, and they may have to go back to Galway. Wherever that last-four match takes place, it will be without a good few of the players who took part in the ten-try triumph against the Italians, as they only played to allow key men such as Stuart Hogg and Josh Strauss to have a rest.
But one man who is leaving in the summer will definitely have a vital role to play - Leone Nakarawa, who scored three of his team’s ten tries against Zebre. The Fijian lock, who is moving to French club Racing 92, was in imperious mood during the game, but insisted afterwards that the squad had neither the time nor the inclination to dwell on the many positive aspects of their performance.
“Tonight is gone - it’s history now,” he said. “We’ll come back on Monday and work on the small things. In the second half we were a bit casual in how we played.
“We’ll pick that up next week, working on small things, especially in defence, and we’ll be ready for next week against Connacht. They will be a tough team to beat.
“We’re quite confident now, but we need to work as a team, work on the small things. Those small things contribute to the bigger task ahead of us.”
There was a time, not all that long ago, when Glasgow’s supporters, if not the squad themselves, cannot have entirely shared that confidence. Down in eighth place halfway through the season, the Warriors were struggling for consistency, albeit in part because the disruptions of the Rugby World Cup and then the Six Nations Championship had denied them a settled side.
Over the past couple of months, however, they have gone from strength to strength. The Zebre victory was their ninth in a row, and, while they have still exhibited the minor flaws mentioned by Nakarawa, overall they are playing with remarkable panache.
“We didn’t lose hope,” he said when asked of that long inconsistent spell. “We managed to come back as a team.
“I can remember the last time we lost, against Ulster away. After the game, we agreed that’s the last time we’re going to lose. We’ve worked together as a team, and you can see the result. That’s the last defeat, and we’re going to keep on winning.”
Now 28, Nakarawa has only been a full-time professional since joining the Warriors three years ago, and the immense talent he has displayed while at Scotstoun has led to his being recognised as an exceptional talent. He seems destined for even higher things at Champions Cup finalists Racing, but admitted it would be a wrench to leave the club where he has made his name.
“Winning the PRO12 this season would be quite an emotional one for me,” he added. “It’s my last time here with my teammates, with the boys, and I want to end on a high before leaving.
“This was my first professional contract, and the players here are more than my team-mates. They are like my little brothers and I’m going to miss them. But opportunities come round in rugby, and it’s a short career, so when an opportunity comes, you take it.”
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