THE PRO14 WILL be a little poorer next season, for tomorrow’s Grand Final at Celtic Park will be the chance for a few stellar talents to grace the competition.
Sean O’Brien did not get the chance to bid farewell to the RDS with a semi-final victory last weekend, and may not feature this weekend, but Stuart Hogg helped creating a fitting final run at Scotstoun as Glasgow ran riot against Ulster.
Celtic Park will be a final bow for Hogg. Clearly, that ground carries a weight of significance for all involved with sport in Scotland, but Hogg grew up a Hibernian fan, so it’s neither a Mecca nor the Death Star.
“Terrific stadium and the boys are very much looking forward to playing on it. Hopefully there is a big crowd to cheer us on,” says the electric fullback.
“We have a final on our home turf, you could say, in Glasgow, in Scotland – which will be massive for us and hopefully we can feed off the crowd.”
It’s an exciting venue for Hogg to mark his last game as a Warrior before he becomes a Chief, and he has an opportunity leave a legacy in Glasgow if they can secure a second title in four years. But the steps towards that goal are all he can concentrate on for the time-being.
“For me it’s all about doing my job for the team and making sure that we give ourselves the best opportunity to lift a trophy.
“If I am going out there and expressing myself, having some fun and having a smile on my face then it means that things are going quite well for us. It will be my last game for Glasgow, but I will worry about that after the game; hopefully when we have a trophy in our hands.”
Like most athletes in team sports who get a chance to look back. The stand-out memories for Hogg do not consist of single moments or special tries. The first image he conjures from his internal highlight reel is the first professional contract he was awarded in 2010 – “something I dreamed of since I was a kid”.
He was part of Gregor Townsend’s brilliant title-winning team in 2015, but he counts that entire season as a highlight. A nine-month-long exorcism for the pain of losing to Leinster in May 2014.
“I think there was a great buzz around. The fact that we got to the final the year before and came up short, we wanted to go one better and we targeted being the first Scottish team to win the Pro12.
“There was some great satisfaction that we had done everything right throughout the whole season and when it came to the play-offs we stepped up another gear. The last three games of the season we had Ulster at home and needed a bonus point victory to have a home semi-final. We did that.
“We played Ulster the following week back here and scored in the last five minutes to win the game. Finn Russell kicked a touchline conversion. Then going on to smash Munster in the final, that was… that month as well as that season was probably my favourite season as a rugby player.”
Their run-in didn’t quite have the drama or Finn Russell this time around, but a trophy would allow this campaign to challenge for the peak of Hogg’s fond memory chart. Doing that will require more than the home advantage promised by 42,000 (and rising) tickets sold for Celtic Park. Glasgow have proven themselves to be an irresistible force through Dave Rennie’s two years in charge at Scotstoun.
Unfortunately, they have often found themselves frustrated by immovable objects.
Last year, they were pitted against eventual European champions Leinster in the Champions Cup pool stages and were subjected to a lesson home and away. This season, the lessons and champs-in-waiting kept coming as they took on Saracens three times. Answer continually came from the English side for all the questions the Warriors’ varied attack posed.
Since exiting Europe at the quarter-final stage, the Scottish side have hit their straps in impressive style and the hosts of this weekend’s final hope to show all the lessons put to use.
“If you give a team like Saracens time and space they are going to hurt you. If you give a team like Leinster time and space they are going to hurt you,” says Hogg.
“We quickly realised how tough it was going to be on the run-in to get ourselves in a position to qualify for play-offs and then get a home semi-final. We knew that we had to have a real clinical edge in our game; that on the back of our solid defence, we really fronted up, our decision-making at the breakdown has been a lot better.
“Our decision-making in attack, we have had that clinical edge, but we have taken the right options.”
There have been a couple of times when things have not gone quite right at training and in games and we have just reflected back on that Saracens game…. when things aren’t quite going to plan we always think back to that game; it refocuses us and gets us back on the right track. We are better because of that game.”
“We have played right on top of teams. We are finding the balance with our kicking game and I think Adam (Hastings), George (Horne) and Ali (Price), Pete Horne, they have put us in the right areas over the last few weeks and it has been a lot tougher for teams to exit.
“We have found ourselves with a good amount of ball but in the right areas of the field. We have kept that scoreboard ticking over nicely and scored some nice tries along the way.”
“I think we have had some good ding-dong battles with Leinster over the years. At times in big games we came up short.
“They came across here last season in the second game of the Champions Cup and bullied us. It was a smash and grab job from them and they took home the victory. It’s going to be a hugely physical battle up front.
“Defensively we are going to have to be spot on, try and keep their key players out of the game as much as we possibly can and make the most of the opportunities we get with the ball. There might be only five or six but we have to make sure we are making the most of it.”
It’s a message Hogg hardly needs reminding of, with only 80 minutes left to run on his time as a Glasgow Warrior.
”I am just concentrating on my job for the team and making sure that we have the opportunity to take home the Pro 14 trophy. It’s been a target all season.
“For me it is just about going out there having some fun and doing my job for the team.”
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Defence is the biggest difference that sexton ( and henshaw) will bring. Taking the line up is a very strong part of his game. Leinster over the past few months have been very passive in defence this has to stop. Seanie looks like he’s going to start ( not sure I’d go with that but hey) he needs to dominate contact, so far this year he’s been very passive, he’s not go the skills and ability of Max or the work rate of Ruddock so he needs his best game in about 2 seasons.
@Chris Mc: O’Brien shouldn’t start this game. He has no form at all. Leinster have plenty of practice winning massive games without him.
@grandslamkbo: I agree, my backrow who be Fardy, Conan and Ruddock. But it looks like Sean is starting.
@Chris Mc:
So Chris do you think J Lowe wont make the team , even if we need tries ::can you let us see your team ::thanks
@Martin Quinn: I never said lowe not to start. I wouldn’t pick O’Brien.
My team
Healy, Cronin Furlong
Ryan and toner
Fardy toner and Ruddock
McGrath and sexton
Henshaw ringrose in the centre
Lowe, Kearney and larmour
With Leinster back to more or less full strength they should have too much powder for Toulouse. It’ll be a cracking game but I think home advantage is worth around 7 and with the bookies calling it an 8 point Leinster win I’d say that’s about right, maybe even slightly more.
The two key factors will be the form of their returning key men – sexton and ringrose especially and secondly they need to tighten up defensively. They’re leaking on average 24 points a game over the last 7 games so if they can bring that number down then there should be handy enough winners against a young but very talented Toulouse side.
@Jim Demps: gun powder. Toulouse like leaking points as well haha
@Fred McHugh: they absolutely do but getting into a high scoring slug out wouldn’t be the best idea for Leinster. Structure and wear them down and they’ll walk it.
Your anti Leinster bias is old and predictable. You might pepper it with occasional compliments but everyone knows you can’t stand us.
At least some of us admit we can’t stand the other.
@Fred McHugh: apologies Fred that reply was meant for Jim Dumps.
@Baz Dunne: i thought you had me muted? Couldn’t go a week without me eh?
@Jim Demps: you get some amount of stick on here. Good job your not sensitive. Anyways tell your mob to keep up their end and we’ll see you in the final.
@Chris Mc: era I take no notice. If some grown man spends his day slinging insults at me then I figure let him at it, he can’t have too many important things going for him. Once they make it personal I normally just ignore them until they want to talk about rugby. The only person I’ve muted is Martin though.
I fully expect munster to win. It won’t be easy but the result is there for us if we show up.
@Chris Mc: bless you Chris you say every yr there’ll be an all Irish final and it never happens. Can’t see it happening this yr.. in fact I’d say Sarries v Toulouse is more likely than Leinster v Munster in my opinion.
@Jim Demps: He misses you Jim. Baz gets lonely with all those Dubs ; )
@Baz Dunne: It’s going to be a Munster vs.Leinster HC & Pro 14 final .Believe Baz , believe.Eire Abu !!Éire Abú!!!
@Baz Dunne: this is the third year in a row where both sides got to the semis. It might be this year, I hope so. As long as we win the 5th I’ll be ok but it would be so sweet to beat munster in the final.
@Baz Dunne:
Baz I hope are not annoyed with me, just because he has Muted me and not you, does not mean you need to up your game !! He does run away when things get hard and someone sees his hidden knife jabs at all things Leinster.
@Martin Quinn:
Just love his comments saying you are a “grown man spends his day slinging insults at me” Baz all your posts are about 2 sentence’s long and you post maybe 2 posts where his 10 posts a page tells it all >> One page had 28 posts ::WOW now he is hoping for the 42.ie to hire him ::the lad has a problem ::and he says you “cant have too many important things going for you”
Keep happy : ) ; )
@Fred McHugh:
Regarding the 24 points per game I feel we were through to the play off for all that time. I feel it would a lot less if we put a better team out, but it does not matter now as it all comes down to this weekend .
Regarding Munster
I believe Munster will bring out one of their famious European games and get through (and I may have a go at some posters but I will always cheer for Munster in these games) Wish you the very best
COYBIR
“We can’t kick loosely to them or their counter attack Will punish us.”
He has a tenacity to kick when there’s a need to keep possession, I hope he remembers this during the game. COYBIG
@Con Cussed: You really are concussed.
@Camroc: What for? This is the biggest weakness in his game, other scrum halfs too within the Irish setup, they keep kicking the ball away when we need to protect it. We often kick the ball to the opposition at crucial parts of the game (often the last few minutes) and have lost games as a result.
@Con Cussed: I think some of that is he’s trying to show joe he can do the Conor Murrary role. There’s a time and place for kicking the ball away and Luke’s not really a master at it.
@Con Cussed: Which games have we lost as a result?