Johnny Matthews would have had more cause than most to feel slightly aggrieved to see George Horne point to the posts after Glasgow had won their first penalty in a kickable position during Saturday’s quarter-final tie against the Stormers.
Matthews, after all, didn’t become the URC’s leading regular season try scorer (14, plus one in the Champions Cup against Harlequins and another for Scotland in the World Cup to make 16 for the season overall) by the team taking three points in such a scenario.
Warriors’ DNA normally means a lineout to form the maul drive with Matthews then flopping down off the back of it, but the return of knockout rugby has seen that tactic tinkered with.
It worked a treat at the weekend, Horne’s efficiency with the boot standing in stark contrast to Stormers’ Manie Libbok who missed all four of his efforts off the tee, effectively costing his team the tie.
READ MORE: Patience pays off as George Horne fires Glasgow to last four
Matthews, though, has no problem with that variation in approach, especially with his scrum-half so deadly in those situations.
“His kicking was outstanding at the weekend and probably one of the major factors in the victory,” said the Liverpudlian.
“So we can win in different ways and pose a different threat to teams who are coming up against us, something we haven’t done before in kicking for the posts.
"It adds another threat for us. And if George is kicking like that then nobody in the team will have any issues if he’s knocking the points over.”
Having a Plan B might come in handy in Warriors’ next mission. Munster’s ability to derail the Glasgow maul was a key factor in the Irish province’s victory in last year’s quarter-final but Matthews believes it can come good again this weekend when the teams meet in a last-four tie at Thomond Park.
“When we look back on the quarter-final last year Munster did an excellent job of nullifying that threat,” he added.
“We need to make sure we’re at the top of our game to cancel that out if they come up with another weapon against it.
“In previous games we’ve maybe had a bit of joy with the maul although the quarter-final was maybe the one game where they stifled that. So we’ll need to find a way to get on top again there and if we could do that we should be in for a good day.”
Warriors’ intensity and focus was key to their strong second-half performance against the Stormers and they will need to produce something similar if they’re to silence a partisan Munster crowd.
Matthews added: “The physicality shown on Saturday was brilliant. Pete Murchie [defence coach] spoke all week about where we would need to go as a team to get the victory. And I think we will need to go another step further to get the away win down in Thomond.
“Stormers are a team that prides themselves on their physicality so to front up and neutralise that in the way that we did is a positive for us. It gives us that belief that we can go and do it to anyone.
“You’ve got to see [Munster] as one of the great competitors. We always come off the field after a real battle against them. It was something that Ryan Wilson used to get the boys going with, in terms of the rivalry. They’re a great team and it’s always a real physical test when we come up against them. We get ourselves up for that naturally.”
READ MORE: Pete Murchie details Glasgow's psychological approach to Munster semi-final
Matthews did, however, reveal that there were certain figures within the dressing room who help control the mentality of the group going into such a pivotal encounter.
“We’ve got a couple of people in the team who are very good at getting us in the right place emotionally. And those people will become more prominent throughout the week and more and more vocal. It’s Sione [Tuipulotu] who’s fantastic at getting us going. In the forwards there’s Zander [Fagerson] and Richie [Gray] who, when they speak, speak very well.
“They’re two people who come to the fore when it comes to getting us to the right level. Kyle Steyn also speaks really well in the huddles and gets us going. They’re four very prominent people when it comes to getting us to the right level.
“This week we don’t really need any motivation against the team that knocked us out last year in the quarter-finals. It’s a team we probably owe one to so we’ll be going to try to get our own back.”
Matthews has been involved in an Edinburgh carpool for the last few years but with George Turner moving to Japan and Fraser Brown retiring he admits numbers for the daily commute to and from Glasgow are dwindling.
“My fuel [costs] have gone through the roof!” he adds. “I’ll miss George for a couple of reasons and that’s definitely one of them.
“Fraser’s gone, Sean Kennedy’s moved, Tom Gordon has moved back to Glasgow – so I’m on my own now. I’m not sure if it’s something I’ve done but I’m certainly in trouble financially. At the moment [I don’t need to listen to anything in the car] as I’ve still got George chewing my ear off but next year I’ll need to find a way to fill that space.”
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