THE HERALD REPORTS


Lineen well pleased after Warriors rise to challenge

KEVIN FERRIE August 12 2008
Glasgow Warriors returned home yesterday having taken much more than they had hoped for out of their 11-day visit to France. The target had been to use the trip to Millau as a main pre-season training camp, incorporating useful match practise under the new law variations against quality opposition.

However, with Sale Sharks, Perpignan and Montpellier also taking part in the six-team event, wins over Castres and Beziers had the Warriors finish as the only unbeaten side in the Challenge Vaquerin.

"We weren't thinking about winning the event," said Sean Lineen, their head coach, who also saw his side lift silverware last season when they beat Edinburgh to claim the 1872 Challenge Cup. "It was a real surprise to lift the trophy, not least because it's massive . . . about four feet high, but we're not going to be getting carried away because this is just pre-season and nothing matters until we get into Magners League action next month.

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"This was just a great opportunity to get the players away and working hard for 11 days. Sometimes they were training four times a day, while we were looking at the matches as our contact sessions, so what we were looking at was their performance and we got what we needed from that.

"In the case of some of the youngsters, it was exceptional, notably Ruraidh Jackson and Richie Vernon, who looks like he is going to put real pressure on Scottish internationalist John Beattie this season. Chris Kinloch, still an academy player, got a try in both games, while Calum Forrester and John Welsh also did well, and there was a great moment when Greg Francis, one of the club players who came over to supplement the squad set up Daryl Gibson's first try for us."

Gibson will quit the Warriors to join Todd Blackadder in the coaching team at Canterbury Crusaders, with whom the centre made his name, as soon as Lineen can identify a replacement.

This tournament provided an excellent return to the ranks for one of the Warriors' own, since Mark McMillan, who returned this summer after three years in England, scored the late try which won the midweek match against Castres, and ultimately set up the tournament triumph when they thrashed Beziers.

With no fresh injuries of major consequence, the players now have a week off and for the visit of Bristol to Firhill on August 22, Lineen is looking forward to adding to the mix the likes of Kelly Brown and John Barclay.

If he was satisfied in terms of how his players performed, Lineen was rather more equivocal about this first experience of the changes to the laws that have been introduced this season. "The referees didn't apply them that much, but we were able to work on how we will have to react to players having to be five metres from the back of the scrums and the changes we need to make to our driving play," said Lineen.

"It makes for a pretty quick game and it's still a bit of a nightmare at the breakdown with players leaving their feet. Some referees were penalising that and others weren't. It's bloody difficult but at least we've got some match practise under the new rules."

This article was originally posted on 12-Aug-2008, 07:31 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 12-Aug-2008, 07:31.