Insight into Glasgow Warriors’ tactical mindset as layers of durability added to more pragmatic approach

Glasgow Warriors are no one-trick ponies as they’ve shown in the play-off rounds of the United Rugby Championship in overcoming both previous champions to reach the final.

In beating the Stormers and Munster they’ve had to curb their natural attacking instincts at times, showing a different side to their game, a more mature approach, according to George Horne, their scrum-half.

This new found pragmatism is likely to be needed when they take on the Vodacom Bulls in Saturday’s final at Loftus Versfeld where the hosts will be red-hot favourites to become the second South African side to lift a major club trophy this season. Following the Sharks’ success in the EPCR Challenge Cup, the Bulls will look to bring the URC trophy back to the republic but there is a steeliness about Glasgow and they are no longer fazed by difficult games on the road, even ones that are 6,000 miles away.

“I think we’ve showed a different side to us to what people are maybe used to seeing,” said Horne, who played a key role in both the quarter-final win over the Stormers and Saturday’s semi-final success in Limerick where Glasgow became the first away team to win a URC play-off game this season.

“We knew Munster were going to be a tough team to crack, so playing too much with the ball in our own half was not going to benefit us. As with last week against the Stormers, it was a fairly mature performance from us. We got out of our own half fairly well and without the ball it was a massive shift. They threw everything at us, as we knew they would, and we stood up to it well. The forward pack were outstanding again, so we were just delighted to again defend so well and manage to sneak the win.”

While Munster had most of the ball at the weekend, Glasgow were ultra-efficient, scoring excellent tries through Kyle Steyn and Sebastian Cancelliere with the only two real chances they had. “In knock-out rugby, we’ve had to adapt our game plan and be a little bit more pragmatic, maybe,” added Horne. “But we still showed what we’re all about in transition. Seb’s try against Munster and Steyno’s as well, we showed we’ve still got that attacking threat when we get the chance. Playing these big games against the best teams, you’ve got to find a way to win and it’s good we’ve been able to do that these last two weeks.”

The Bulls and Glasgow have already served up one epic at Loftus Versfeld this season. The hosts won the match in May 40-34 but the Warriors fought tooth and nail to secure two bonus points after trailing 37-10 with 19 minutes remaining. They scored 21 unanswered points through three converted tries in the space of eight minutes in a vivid demonstration of their ability to cope with the altitude in Pretoria.

George Horne goes to congratulate Sebastian Cancelliere after the winger scored Glasgow Warriors' second try in the 17-10 win over Munster in the BKT United Rugby Championship semi-final at Thomond Park, Limerick, on 15 June 2024. (Photo by Ben Brady/INPHO/Shutterstock)

“We definitely take confidence from the way we finished,” said Horne. “We work hard on our fitness and like to come in at the back end of games still being dangerous. But we can’t afford to give teams that big a head start, especially in finals. Hopefully we can still finish strong, but hopefully it will be a completely different game out there this week. And in a final anything can happen.

“We can’t give them anything cheap on transition. They are electric, especially their back three but really their whole backline. They can score from anywhere so being disciplined with the ball and putting pressure on them, especially in our own half, will be important.

“We can’t overplay in there, and we need to try to not give them any sniff of turnover or transition ball, because we know that they can cut you up.”

It’s Glasgow’s second final in two seasons under Franco Smith. They got blown away by Toulon last year, losing 43-19 in the Challenge Cup final in Dublin without laying a glove on the French side. That was a sobering night for the Warriors but Horne believes it has also helped shape the squad’s mentality, making them a more durable proposition.

Glasgow Warriors' players look at their medal after their defeat at the end of the European Challenge Cup final against Toulon last summer.

“We have definitely matured as a group,” he said. “We’ve had another year together with a fairly settled squad. We’ve played in a few big knockout games and lost - the quarter-final last year, the last 16 of the Champions Cup this year. But we have taken lessons from those games and adapted where we had to. That’s shown in the last two weeks. We’ve made ourselves hard to beat and that’s what you need to be in knockout rugby.”

• Why Scotland didn’t pick Mosese Tuipulotu for summer tour as Gregor Townsend hints that Lions may not be for him