Shane Williams column: Gregor Townsend’s got his Glasgow Warriors battle-ready for Galway
I have the distinction of scoring the first try in a Pro12 play-off when they were introduced back in 2010. I didn’t realise that until I was reminded of it this week ahead of the play-offs and unfortunately there is no chance of another Welshman scoring next weekend.
That try was against Glasgow and back then they regarded themselves as having over-achieved just to get into the end of season shake-up. But this year they are going into the play-offs as defending champions and my choice to lift the trophy.
They play a great style of rugby under Gregor Townsend and who is to say he won’t go as attack coach with the British Lions next year?
Connacht have been a breath of fresh air this season and Pat Lam has done an unbelievable job. It’s easy to see why he was coach of the year.
Playing the match in Galway is a big advantage for them – especially as they beat Glasgow 14-7 there only last week. It’s a very tough place to go and some of my hardest Pro12 matches were at the Sportsground. It doesn’t matter if it’s January or June, the odds are that it will be raining and almost certainly windy. The conditions are a nightmare.
However, despite that advantage, this is Connacht’s first time in the play-offs. Glasgow, with stars such as Stuart Hogg, right, have been there many times before and know what it takes to get through. That experience should prove the difference.
Glasgow are packed full of Scottish internationals who have brought their Test form to their club and are looking good to go all the way. What’s more, they know how to peak at the right time after winning nine games in a row before losing in Galway last week.
After all what’s the point in playing your best rugby and failing at the end of the season. Just ask Wayne Pivac and the Scarlets.
The play-offs have been a huge success for the league; as has European qualification. There was only one game last weekend that had nothing riding on the outcome which is fantastic for the competition and great for the fans. There’s nothing worse than a team running away with the title and leaving most other games meaningless. Who wants to watch that?
As I said, I scored the first try back in 2010 when Ospreys beat Glasgow 20-5 at the Liberty Stadium and we went on to lift the trophy a week later.
We had to win it the hard way that year but introducing the play-offs really worked for us.
Having play-offs to aim for changed how teams approached the league and took some of the pressure off. Instead of just playing for top spot, you only had to get into the top four and then make sure you were playing your best rugby at the business end of the season.
That’s exactly what we did in 2010. We suffered a lot during the autumn and Six Nations with so many call-ups and ended up having to play a lot of away games. We stayed out in Ireland because we had to play Ulster, Leinster and Munster in the space of 11 days. It became like being in a cup because we knew we pretty much had to win every game or we were out.
We knew we were up against it but we had guys like James Hook, Jerry Collins and Mike Phillips and we all played our best rugby. We also came into the play-offs in good form and full of momentum and that counts for a lot when the title comes down to two games.
It’s important to qualify with home advantage for the semi-finals but the Ospreys proved you can win the final wherever it is played if you’re on form.
That’s why I think Ulster could sneak a win at Leinster. In the last four rounds of the regular season they have beaten Connacht, Leinster and hammered Ospreys, so they are coming into the play-offs full of confidence.
They are the dark horses. It’s a blow to lose Tommy Bowe – again – but they are still looking strong coming into the final straight.
