Gloucester
Time for Glaws to end run of final failures
BR - chnages
By Cherry Picker
March 9 2011
Short on silverware for too long, Gloucester play at Kingsholm on Sunday for the right to contest the final of the LV=Cup, Newport Gwent Dragons standing between them and a chance to atone for the recent final failure nightmares that still haunt players and fans alike.
Hitting form as a team in the Premiership, Gloucester are doubtless on a roll.
But the Kingsholm culture under the guidance of Bryan Redpath will surely not allow that happy state of affairs to turn into over-confidence.
Glaws rubbed old rivals Bath’s faces in the soil last weekend as they chalked up a victory that served to underline the fact that the uncertainty and inconsistency that marked the first half of the season has, despite some worrying injuries and the Home Internationals, turned into genuine potential both for this season and the long-term future.
Just as desperate for success as anybody else connected with the club, Redpath has had to change the outlook at Kingsholm and he told the Citizen: “It's come down to challenging the people who have been here the longest. We need to change the culture around here and we need to really understand why in the last six seasons nearly now, we've been in finals nearly every year and we've not won.
"We've won one in the six years that I've been here, and we've lost three finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final, and we've had to ask why.
"Now that generally comes down to mental strength, or core belief in the group.
“We've just been honest with ourselves, and said if we're not willing to do it then we're never going to change this rut that we've been in.
“We're doing alright. We are working hard Monday to Friday, and that means we bash each other around a little bit more, nothing crazy but just little bits.”
Bath certainly felt the results of that doctrine, an indication that as a team Glaws just might have come of age.
Dragons will be just as keen to make the final themselves, with Harlequins or Newcastle waiting in the wings, and Sunday lunchtime (1.0 pm kick-off) is going to be another test for the new Glaws.
Meanwhile, young scrum half Jordi Pasqualin is sining for Newcastle Falcons, his Kingsholm chances hampered by the form of Rory Lawson and the progress made by Dave Lewis.
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09/03/2011 12:56
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That's a weird theory you've got there.
I bet you're the life and soul of your bathroom.
