Murray takes positives from physical Zebre battle

16 Oct 2021

For the second week in a row Glasgow Warriors defence held strong and starved their opposition of tries, a feat Defence Coach Kenny Murray sees as a strong jumping-off point ahead of the club’s upcoming home game against Leinster.

A hard-fought 17-6 win over Zebre at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, this afternoon ensured that the Warriors continued their momentum to win their third win in succession and retain their place atop the Scottish-Italian Shield.

“It’s good to see our defence has held strong – that’s two weeks in a row we haven’t conceded a try which is a real bonus going into Leinster game,” Murray told glasgowwarriors.org post-match.

“Zebre are a physical side, but, I thought we defended pretty well for most of the game. There were a couple of line breaks from our kick chase which put us under pressure, but overall we stood up to them really well.

“We knew they had real threats across the park, our whole theme this week was around caging Canna and not giving him space which I thought we did well for most of the game.”

On the other side of the ball, Glasgow came out the blocks firing. Lock Lewis Bean barrelled over from close range on the fourth minute to open Glasgow’s account.

“We scored a couple of good tries, but the frustration there is that we didn’t take all of our opportunities,” said Murray.

Probably our balance in the game could be better – when to run and when to kick – we made a few decisions around that area that could have been better at times.

“In the second half, our discipline let us down a little bit. We conceded around eight or nine penalties in the second half. We have to be a lot better there – particularly against Leinster who will put you under pressure.

“Coming away from home, and with a few last-minute changes to the team, to come and got the win is the most important thing.”

Friday night rugby returns to Scotstoun this coming week as Glasgow welcome current league champions Leinster.

“It’s going to be our toughest game of the season,” said Murray.

“They are playing well and are scoring a lot of points. This week they brought back in their British and Irish Lions so they have a really strong squad to pick from.

“At the end of last year we got the better of them at Scotstoun so I’d imagine they are coming here looking for a big win.

“We know what’s coming and we’ll have to be at our best to beat the best.”