Petrie Sees Encouraging Signs

After the disappointment of finishing last season one from bottom of the table you would think Glasgow Rugby captain Jon Petrie would be delighted to have his side sitting in fourth place after three games - but, speaking to Celticleague.com, the Scottish test No.8 has claimed that there is still much hard work to be done.
"It's been an alright start to the season, especially with wins over the other local sides, but the defeat in Connacht was disappointing. I can't really say what happened in Galway: we had a good pre-season and had enough possession to have won but every time we got into their 22 we seemed to panic and turn it over."
However that defeat against the Irish side has been followed by narrow wins over both the Borders and Edinburgh, and Petrie has taken a lot of positives from those games. "We have beaten the Borders a few times in the past but to get the win over Edinburgh was particularly nice. In the past we have been criticised for not being able to tough out a game but both our wins have showed we could play with our backs to the wall - especially when we were down to 13 men against Edinburgh".
While these wins give the side a good platform from which to build Petrie is under no illusions of the task ahead when they face the Dragons on Friday night.
"We know that the Welsh sides will definitely be stronger now they have gone from five to four teams and therefore we will have to up our game yet again.
"I saw the way they played when they beat The Scarlets and although it's difficult to tell in the wet conditions they looked very well organised. However we will concentrate on our own game."
Over the summer Glasgow Rugby were able to entice Kenny Logan from London Wasps, and Petrie believes he has brought a lot to the side. "We only have a small squad of about 27, and there are a lot of young guys around, so its great to have Kenny able to share his experience. He is a very exuberant character and he is so experienced both in Europe and at test level - it was great to get him to Glasgow."
Petrie is also full of praise for the way that the Glasgow fans have given their support to the side- especially last week when the Celtic League game was played as the second part of a double header with a club game. "For the past few seasons we have tried to play our home games on a Friday night so that we didn't clash with club rugby, but with the Setanta deal we now have games on Saturdays and the double headers like we had last week are the way forward - there was a great atmosphere last week."
With the test match season just around the corner Petrie admits that the loss of Scott Murray through injury will be a huge blow - but wouldn't put himself forward to fill the vacancy as skipper which Murray's absence will leave. "We will miss him it's a huge blow for the side - but I just want to concentrate on getting a regular place on the side - I wouldn't even think about being skipper."
"This is a big test series for us. Since Matt Williams came on board we have been in a transitional stage but now we have got to start producing results and this autumn we have some big opportunities to get those results."