Family presence makes win all the sweeter for Fagerson

• 9 Jan 2023
• Interviews

Matt Fagerson was full of smiles and praise for the whole squad following Sunday’s win against DHL Stormers. 

“We put a lot of effort into our scrum and lineout this week.” Fagerson told glasgowwarriors.org,

“Missing Richie [Gray] and Scottie [Cummings], I thought JP [du Preez] and Lewis [Bean] were outstanding.  They got every bit of detail right and led it from the front”

“At scrum time, the whole front row, and the bench that came on, were absolutely amazing. I think everyone on the same page made a huge difference.  I’m really proud of the boys.”

Despite Glasgow Warriors being first on the scoreboard, Stormers were leading at half time.  As the game approached the 80-minute mark it was tied 17-1, though, and Fagerson credits the confidence of the squad to keep pushing till the final whistle.

“It was all about applying pressure,” he said.

“We had a really good scrum throughout the game.  It just shows the confidence of the boys, we probably could have taken the points at the end but we really wanted that win.

“It was a bit squeaky-bum when the ball went back to Kyle. Again, though, we did a great job and went through our phases. Sione [Tuipulotu] needs to stop telling everyone about how good his left boot is but Seb [Cancelliere] cleaned that up so it was incredible.”

Glasgow Warriors have now won their last six games and will be focusing on carrying that winning momentum and focus into preparations for next week’s match against Perpignan in the EPCR Challenge Cup

“We’ll be looking at the game straight away and seeing where we can improve. We left some points out there which is probably one of the biggest things to take away.

“There was a huge effort but there are still things to work on, I think that’s the best thing about this team.

“It wasn’t just the 23, the boys prepped us so well throughout the week and we’ve seen that the last couple of months, with the squad rotation, everyone comes in and everyone is on the same page.  It really puts the jersey in a better place.  There will be a huge squad effort in the next month as well.”

The atmosphere in and around Scotstoun on Sunday was incredible and made more special by the mascots for the game being children of players, something Fagerson really enjoyed.

“I ran out with Zander’s two and that was incredibly special for me,” said Fagerson.

“Seeing everyone out on the pitch after was fantastic, I’d love to do that at every home game.  Seeing everyone after and all the kids and the smiles, it’s just really special.

“This place has been a fortress for the last two or three years, we sell out games and it’s a credit to the fans and they travel as well.  It means so much to the boys, thank you so much!”

Glasgow Warriors next home game is against Bath on Friday 20 January.  Ticket can be bought here.