GLASGOW WARRIORS return to the scene of the most gruesome experience in the club’s recent history on Saturday, with Leinster at the Royal Dublin Showground conjuring up painful memories of five and a half months ago when they were on the wrong end of a humiliating 76-14 thumping – a result which ultimately cost Danny Wilson his job.
Under new head coach Franco Smith, Glasgow Warriors feel they are fitter and making steady progress on the park, but their away record is still a concern. They have managed just one win from their last 12 matches on the road stretching back to mid-January, but scrum-half Jamie Dobie believes that this particular game is an ideal opportunity to change the narrative.
“We’re just focusing on the squad we’ve got this year and that result fuels us both individually and as a collective to put things right,” he said.
“We know the challenge that Leinster bring, especially in Dublin, and we know we’ve had some tough experiences there, so it’s important for us to focus on the game that we know we can play.
“With the squad that we’ve got there’s no doubt that we can give them a good match and come away with a win.”
On a personal level, 21-year-old Dobie is looking forward to getting back playing after a lengthy lay-off.
“The end of last season was frustrating for the club and personally I wasn’t getting as much time as I had hoped, so we managed to organise for me to head down to play in New Zealand for a few months over the summer,” he explained.
“The plan had been to play that NPC season down there with Bay of Plenty which could have been nine or 10 games over a period of a few months, but unfortunately, I picked up a hamstring injury and it didn’t quite pan out as planned.”
The hamstring issue kept Dobie sidelined at the start of this season, and when he was eventually fit to play again, his comeback match against the Lions near the end of October was called off due to a virus running through the squad, meaning he managed just one game – the 37-0 home win over Benetton – before the club season closed down for the Autumn Test window.
“The timing was frustrating but I didn’t get any time off before I went to New Zealand in June, so it wasn’t bad for the mind to head home and see the family for a bit, and we’ve been back in and had a good training week while the boys were with Scotland, so we’re ready to go.”
