Glasgow Warriors coach Gregor Townsend praises Scotland pair

Image source, SNS

Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend paid tribute to international duo Duncan Weir and Alex Dunbar for bouncing back in the win over Scarlets.

Niko Matawalu's only try of the 14-6 victory gave Warriors a boost ahead of Friday's game against the Ospreys.

Weir and Dunbar both played in Scotland's heavy 51-3 defeat to Wales.

"The Six Nations is a huge tournament that requires a lot of effort, but I thought Duncan and Alex both played really well," said Townsend.

"When you have a defeat, you just want to play as soon as possible.

"We had to balance that need for them with their physical and mental state."

Indeed, Townsend thought that fly-half Weir and wing Dunbar had both gained confidence from being involved so heavily in Scotland's five Six Nations games.

It is between Glasgow and Ospreys to secure the final play-off place in the Pro12.

Glasgow sit fifth in the table, four points behind the Welsh but having played two games less, and Townsend was pleased to keep the pressure on their rivals with victory over Scarlets.

"It was an important win for us, but the second-half wasn't as fluent as we would have liked," he told Warriors' website.

"I thought in the first-half we played a lot of good rugby, we were physical, our defence was in place and we just didn't build on it in the second-half.

"Maybe we were lacking a bit of match practice because we haven't had a game in three weeks."