“Dumb penalties killed us” | Wilson

27 Nov 2021

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Danny Wilson was left exasperated by his side’s discipline in the closing stages of this afternoon’s defeat in Treviso, after Leonardo Marin’s penalty handed Benetton a 19-18 victory with the last kick of the match.

Leading by two points with 90 seconds to play, the visitors conceded three penalties in quick succession to provide their hosts with the opportunity to win the match, something that visibly riled Wilson and his coaching team.

“We’ve got to take a long, hard look at ourselves in the mirror, because that’s not good enough from us,” said Wilson post-match.

“Not to take anything away from Benetton, who played well today, but we were in a position to win that game with 90 seconds to go and we conspired to throw it away.

“It’s not the first time it’s happened, either, which makes it all the more frustrating. Our effort was there today, but we let ourselves down with discipline. It needs to improve and it needs to improve fast.”

The conclusion was all the more frustrating for Wilson and his squad after the manner in which the Warriors had defended their lead, having fought back from an early deficit to go into the break with their noses in front.

Whilst a losing bonus-point ensures the journey back to Glasgow isn’t being undertaken empty-handed, it provided scant consolation for Wilson in the immediate aftermath.

“They were just ridiculous penalties from us, to be honest. We’ve handed them the game with three penalties in 90 seconds. We have to learn our lessons because we’ve let ourselves down. There’s a lot in that game that we should never have let get away from us. It’s not the effort of the players.

“There are two types of penalty – a penalty that happens through effort and a gamble that doesn’t play off, and a dumb penalty. It was the dumb penalties that killed us today.

“We had our opportunities to be further ahead than we were – we showed great fight to come back from that bad start to lead at the break, but we had no field position in the second half. That all stems from our own poor discipline.

“It’s frustrating, and we have to learn our lessons ahead of Dragons and put things right in front of our own fans.”

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— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) November 24, 2021