“We created a lot of opportunities” | Rory Darge

BKT United Rugby Championship, Parc y Scarlets, Scarlets, Wales 30/3/2024 Scarlets vs Glasgow Warriors Henco Venter of Glasgow Warriors Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ashley Crowden

Bouncing back from a performance against Cardiff last week was a top priority for the whole team. The Warriors certainly did that. A final score of 45-3 to Glasgow secured them the bonus-point win they were searching for.

Scotland co-captain and Glasgow back rower Rory Darge featured in the starting XV. Returning to club rugby for the first time since the Six Nations, Darge spoke to glasgowwarriors.org about the much-needed rest after the international competition and the hard work that’s been happening at Scotstoun.

“Having last week off was good for me personally from both a mental and physical point of view. My body was a bit sore after the Six Nations.

“Coming back this week, the team has worked hard. We’ve been training all week and wanted to play better than we did on the previous weekend against Cardiff. We were focused on being better than we were.”

Glasgow Warriors certainly displayed a much-improved performance against the Scarlets. Consistent defence, accurate kicking, and flat ball through the backs set Glasgow up for some fantastic scores. Johnny Matthews was back in action scoring another maul try and Scotland winger Kyle Rowe bagged himself a hat-trick.

Darge commended Scarlets for their fight in defence which stopped the Warriors from scoring any more points.

“Credit to the Scarlets, they scrummed really well and were good in defence. They got some big turnovers.

“We played against 15 good players so scoring more than seven tries isn’t always going to come off. We’ll look at what we can do better after this match. They’ll be little bits here and there.

“I thought our defence was good and we created a lot of opportunities. Maybe just taking more of them will be the difference of scoring more than seven tries.”

Darge emphasised the importance of Glasgow’s impenetrable defence particularly as the squad faces English side Harlequins in the Round of 16 in the Investec Champions Cup on Friday 5 April.

“The back row has been solid in defence but look at the rest of the team and what they’re doing. We can’t rest our laurels on just the back row to put the defensive shift in. Especially when we get into the end of this season, keeping that scoreboard low for the opposition is going to be massive. Games are going to become a bit stingier.

“Our defence has got to be really good at the final part of this season.

“Europe has come around so quickly and we’re definitely looking forward to the challenge of facing Harlequins.”