All eyes will be on Glasgow Warriors as they return to European rugby’s top table this weekend.
Having failed to qualify last season for the first time since 2006/07, Franco Smith’s side made the most of those circumstances by progressing all the way to the Challenge Cup final where they were beaten by Toulon.
The Champions Cup, though, is where every aspiring club wants to be and Warriors are no different. Their comeback will take place under the Friday night lights at Scotstoun where they and Northampton Saints will open this year’s tournament in what is shaping up to be a classic in the making.
Saints are not out of the Premiership’s very top drawer but they will swagger north having just gone to the home of the English champions, Saracens, and emerged with an impressive 18-12 victory. Harlequins and Exeter Chiefs have also been beaten in recent times.
Glasgow will be aware of that threat but won’t be intimidated, especially at home where they have been beaten only once in almost two years. A strong start to the United Rugby Championship season – defeats away to Connacht and Munster aside – will also imbue Smith’s side with confidence as they look to make their mark in Europe.
“It’s given everyone a lift being back in the Champions Cup as it felt weird not being in it last year for the first time in a long time,” said defence coach Pete Murchie. “We’ve got quality opposition first up to start with and being in this tournament definitely brings a different feel to the week.
“I’m sure it will bring the best out in the guys and to get a sell-out crowd here would be awesome. We’ve had a pretty good start to the season apart from the weekend defeat [to Munster] which was a bit of a bump in the road.
“The greatest thing about the URC is it’s such a high quality league. You’re getting tested every week with different styles of play which is a definite benefit in Europe.
“The English and French teams just play each other every week and quite often face a similar style whereas we get exposed to different styles. The South Africans play differently to the Welsh, for example. That will help us.
“We see ourselves as at least being equals this weekend and we need to make sure that we put our best game out there. We are still looking for that complete performance. This would be a good weekend to do that.
“The best teams always increase their level and get more out of themselves for the toughest matches so we understand that and want to get that out of ourselves. Northampton had a good win at the weekend away to Saracens which is no mean feat. But we feel that if we play to our potential and rise to the challenge of a European game then we can give a strong account of ourselves.”
Unlike their opponents, Glasgow don’t head into the game on the back of a victory. Their loss to Munster on Friday night was a painful one for Murchie as defence coach to endure, especially the poverty of the start that saw Warriors punished repeatedly for poor discipline.“The start of the game put us in a really difficult position,” he admitted. “We had our first yellow card warning after five minutes and pretty quickly got a yellow card after that. To be fair to Munster they were very accurate but we can’t start games like that, giving them that many inroads.
“They didn’t have to do much to get their points, just piggybacked on getting penalty after penalty. Especially away from home refs are human beings. If they make up their minds pretty early that you’re the offending team then it’s pretty hard to change that, especially when there are several thousand Munster supporters letting them know.
“If you keep giving away penalties you’re going to have teams 5 metres out or kicking points. If you can’t hold on to the ball you’re going to concede a lot. It’s about getting better with the simple things and putting pressure on the opposition rather than the under way around.”
Glasgow could be boosted by the return of Huw Jones for Friday's game. The Scotland centre has been out with a foot injury since the end of October but is in line to make a comeback, although there is less certainty around the fitness of George Horne.
Murchie added: “Huw should be available. Hopefully we’ll get a good week’s training out of him as he’s been back training for a few weeks now and taking contact.
“George Horne is doing well. We’ll see if he’s good enough for this weekend but it’s one of these things you’re not going to take a risk on. He’s progressing well and it will be short-term but whether it’s this week we’ll wait and see.
“Ollie Smith has a dead leg that he struggled to shake off in the Munster game but he should be okay.”
