“The boys are hurting after that one” | Bell

Glasgow Warriors Assistant Coach Jonny Bell refused to shy away from the hard truths following defeat to the Dragons this afternoon, after letting a half-time lead slip away at the Principality Stadium.

For the fourth match in succession, the Warriors found themselves short-handed on multiple occasions during the 80 minutes through two yellow cards, falling foul of the officiating team on duty in the Welsh capital.

“We’re massively disappointed,” an obviously frustrated Bell told glasgowwarriors.org post-match.

“Our discipline let us down again – yellow cards are hurting us way too much at the moment.

“Our penalty count is too high. It lets the opposition off the hook when we’re attacking, and gives them a foothold in the game. We couldn’t sustain any pressure and that’s incredibly frustrating for us.

“Credit to the Dragons, because they defended very physically and aggressively. You’ve got to be able to weather that though. We had chances in their 22 throughout that match, and we coughed up possession far too easily.”

With just a six-day turnaround until their final match of a shorter-than-usual Guinness PRO14 campaign, Bell and his fellow coaches will need to work quickly to prepare their team for the visit of Benetton to Scotstoun on Saturday afternoon.

Having already identified the areas requiring improvement, the Glasgow assistant knows that the squad will be itching to get out and prove a point next weekend.

“We’re going to have to take a long, hard look at ourselves this week,” said Bell.

“It’s a short turnaround, and there are boys in the dressing room who are hurting physically and emotionally after that one. We know it’s a game we should have won. That match isn’t a true reflection of ourselves as a team, and we’ve got to look at ourselves hard and make sure we come back fighting next weekend.

“It’s winner-takes-all. We know that we need to finish as high in the conference as possible to give ourselves the best chance we can of Champions Cup qualification.

“You can guarantee the boys will be up for it next weekend.”