The Scotstoun crowd is the best in Europe – Matawalu

• 12 Dec 2019

After his eye-catching intervention in La Rochelle last weekend, Glasgow Warriors winger Niko Matawalu is looking forward to running out in front of a packed Scotstoun once again this weekend.

The flying
Fijian’s interception try early in the second half sent the travelling Warrior
Nation into delirium, running it home from 70 metres to acrobatically finish in
the corner. Yet Matawalu himself insists that for him, it was all just part of
the day job.

“I just
reacted to what was happening in front of me,” he laughed.

“[Victor] Vito
had dummied the ball once, so I took a chance and he threw it straight to me.

“I was just
trying to get away as fast as I could! Once I reached the 22 I knew I was going
to score.”

Matawalu’s
try was the catalyst for a sterling second-half from Dave Rennie’s side, as
Kyle Steyn’s well-taken score and a resolute defensive shift saw the Warriors
claim a valuable four points in their pursuit of the quarter-finals. The winger
was quick to highlight the work of his colleagues up front, however, praising
the pack for securing the result.

“I trusted
the forwards would do the job that needed to be done,” said Matawalu.

“Even when
that last penalty was given to La Rochelle, I knew they would get it done. Full
credit to them.”

With a
rematch with the men from the Stade Marcel Deflandre lying in store on Saturday
evening, the Warriors will be looking to further boost their qualification hopes
in front of a passionate home crowd. For Matawalu, it’s that crowd that can
make all the difference should Saturday’s match be as tightly-contested as last
weekend’s encounter.

“The boys
are pumped up for this weekend,” said the winger.

“We learned
a lot from last weekend’s games – we know there are a few things we can improve
from last week and we’ve been working on them in training this week.

“Every home
game we know that we’re going to be tough to beat. The Scotstoun crowd is the
best crowd in Europe, in my opinion. We know La Rochelle will be tough, but we’re
going out there to get the win.”

Tickets for the match are still available – with our next two matches sold out, don’t miss your last chance to see the Warriors until February 2020! To secure your seat, click here.