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Glasgow’s Callum Gibbins warns Saracens may suffer Twickenham hangover


Glasgow have not beaten Saracens in five attempts in the European Cup, but after last week’s astonishing comeback by Scotland in the Calcutta Cup match at Twickenham, they aim to make lightning counterattacking strike for a second time next Saturday, against the English champions.

Scotland came from 31-0 down against England to lead 38-31 before having to settle for a draw after conceding a try in the final minute. Glasgow have conceded 38 points on their two visits to Allianz Park, in January and in the 2017 quarter-final, and their surest form of defence will again be attack.

“We do not need to change too much,” says the Glasgow co-captain and back-rower Callum Gibbins, who returned to action this weekend after suffering an ankle injury against Cardiff Blues during a European group match in January.

“We can be pretty hard to handle when we have the ball. If you alter too many things you run the risk of not being clear and do not get on with the job you have been doing for most of the year.

“We played with a lot of tempo in the first half at Saracens a couple of months ago and we were accurate. When you are playing against a team with so many international players, you not only have to starve them of the ball but play well with it. We were a bit off it in the second half that day and they pulled away.”

Scotland’s retention of the Calcutta Cup for the first time in 35 years was the high point of a disappointing Six Nations campaign that saw them lose three matches in a row after opening with a bonus point victory over Italy. Injuries did not help – the full-back Stuart Hogg was among the absentees in the latter stages after suffering an injured shoulder on the second weekend – but Glasgow hope he will be fit to face Saracens.

“The Scotland side is very fit and so are we,” says Gibbins. “It is something we work very hard on and we know that if we hold on to the ball we can come through.

“The key against a team like Saracens is making sure we do something with possession. You stress teams by not coughing up the ball and making your fitness tell in the final 20 minutes. Discipline is also important and we have to keep our penalty count below 10.”

Scotland have two teams in the knockout stages for the first time, with Edinburgh facing Munster in the first of the quarter-finals, at lunchtime on Saturday. A feature of both Scottish representatives has been their willingness to front up at forward and when Saracens went to Glasgow in October, they found themselves in a battle rather than a free-flowing game. Gibbins, who played Super Rugby with the Hurricanes, expects more niggle: “It is the biggest competition in Europe and there is English-Scottish rivalry on top. Both teams will be up for it, as they should be. When you are trying to stop them running at you or you are trying to run over someone, it gets pretty heated. It is good for the game.”

Saracens had six players involved at Twickenham last weekend, five for England and Scotland’s Sean Maitland. Two were rested for Saturday’s Premiership match against Harlequins at the London Stadium, Owen Farrell and George Kruis, and the club’s director of rugby, Mark McCall, does not expect an ultimately disappointing Six Nations campaign to have any impact on his side’s final two months of the season.

“Players tend to come back here and just crack on like they have never been away,” he says. “That has been our experience whether they have won a grand slam or had a more disappointing campaign. Our record in the home straight has been good over the last three years and a lot of that is down to the superb attitude of the players.

“We gave Owen a rest, but everyone who is available will be up for selection against Glasgow. We are very confident Maro Itoje will be back from injury and we will be carefully monitoring him over the weekend, although we do not think Mako Vunipola will be.”

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Like last season, Saracens are the Premiership’s only representatives in the quarter-finals. A year ago, they lost to Leinster in Dublin having scraped into the last eight but this season they were the only team to emerge from the pool stage unbeaten. They have lost their last four away matches in the Premiership but have not been beaten at Allianz Park in the last 13 months.

“We have had two incredibly tough games against them already and they scored some points against us last time around,” says McCall, when asked if Scotland’s revival at Twickenham would galvanise Glasgow. “They crossed for three tries against us in the first half then so they are a good side regardless of what happened last weekend.”



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