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Bulls vs Glasgow: 'If you lose in a final, there’s no coming back from it'

By PA
Bulls are a formidable proposition in Pretoria but there are often plenty of empty seats at Loftus Versfeld (Photo Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Zander Fagerson is hoping “years of hard work” pay off in the shape of silverware when Glasgow face the Bulls in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final in Pretoria.

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The 28-year-old prop was on the periphery of the squad as a teenager when Warriors won their last trophy, the Pro 12 title, in 2015.

Now one of Glasgow’s senior players, Scotland mainstay Fagerson would love to guide his team to some long-awaited glory in South Africa.

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“It would be the culmination of a lot of years of hard work to get to this point,” he said. “It would be the icing on the cake.

“We’re enjoying the week, but we won’t get ahead of ourselves. We have to go out there and do it at the weekend, we’ve got to make sure we dot our i’s and cross our t’s.

“We need to treat is a normal week, stick to our processes and go from there.”

Glasgow lost 40-34 away to the Bulls in the regulation season last month, but they go into the defining match of their campaign buoyed by rousing victories at home to the Stormers and away to Munster in the quarter-final and semi-final over the past two weekends.

“I was really proud of the boys the last two weeks in how they defended and how they played for each other and it’s going to take the same again this week,” said Fagerson.

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“The Bulls took their chances against us the last time. They’re a well-drilled team and they’ve got some really dangerous players so we need to make sure we don’t give them as many opportunities.”

Saturday’s match at Loftus Versfeld will be Glasgow’s second final in 13 months after they lost to Toulon in the Challenge Cup showpiece in Dublin last year.

“Once you play in a final and get that big-game exposure, you learn a lot from it,” said Fagerson.

“I think we’ve got a bit more maturity as a team now. If you lose in a final, there’s no coming back from it.

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“We didn’t stick to our game plan and play the full 80 minutes of that game and we came up second best, so we’ve got to make sure we leave everything out there this weekend because there’s no second chances.”

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H
Hellhound 14 minutes ago
The 'one difference' between Boks and the back-to-back All Blacks

That is the problem with some of you Kiwis. You live in the past. This Bok team is not the Bok teams of the past. This Bok team was honed during WC's and boy, if you want to live in the past, in 2 WC finals against the Boks, the Boks won. The trophy that really counts and everyone wants more than any other trophy.


This Bok team won't be just building between WC's anymore. They aim to rule and they made a very very good start. History only show us the past results but that is not enough to make your team win. Different players, different eras. The RC's was used by the Boks. Guess for what? That is right, to build between WC's.


Let's recap since it's hard to actually remember with that sieve called a brain. What do the Boks usually do between WC's? Why didn't they care so much about winning? Can you remember yet? Or does the past results keep you very warm at night? Remind me, how many WC's have SA won compared to the AB's? What is the Boks winning ratio in the WC's?


That is right. SA played in 2 LESS WC's than the AB's. Won 4/8. Winning 50% of WCs they participated in. 100% winning ratio in WC finals. Won 3 WC's AWAY from home. The AB's have won 3/10. 30% winning margin of WC's they participated in. The Boks also survived and won the toughest road to the finals ever in the tournament history.


No one cares about between WC's. What will people remember? What will players remember? Their tears of winning or losing a WC. Once again, the Boks lead there too. 4 WC's to the Boks, 3 by the AB's. Despite being so dominant, the ABs couldn't crack the Boks in 2 WC finals.


This Bok team wants more than that. They want to win between WCs too now. The AB's lost twice in a row and the Boks is now on 4 victories in a row against the AB's. Tell me, how warm does the past keep you now? Blame the refs, blame the fans, blame the world, for all your losses and still we don't care. We have never cared.


We cared about one thing only. The only tournament that had any value to us since the inception of the WC. NZ won 2 WCs at home. SA had to do it away from home 3 times and once at home nearly 30 years ago.


Keep laughing, because we do. This year alone the Boks is up by 3 wins to the zip of NZ. None of your past results will change the current results. The RC next year... Ready for it?? All will the past help you win those 2 matches too? Next up to beat the ABs in their own backyard. I'd be scared if I were you. Experimental Bok squads took the AB's down this year, not even the strongest Bok team. That just shows how far the ABs have fallen, yet you want to laugh.

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