Glasgow's Jamie Dobie believes it will be a "blessing in disguise" to start their URC season against Leinster next weekend.
Last season's table-toppers will come to Scotstoun on Sunday week and, although they will travel without their 18-strong Ireland contingent presently competing at the World Cup, Dobie believes the early-season yardstick will prove useful.
"It's a blessing in disguise to get straight into it," he said after Franco Smith's men lost their final pre-season friendly away to Ulster on Saturday.
"The league is getting more and more competitive, there aren't many games you look at now and think it'll be easy.
"But Leinster first up at home is going to be massive. We pride ourselves on how good we were at Scotstoun last year and our results, that's something we're looking to continue.
"Who better to go up against someone like Leinster who have dominated the league?"
Having been bulk suppliers to the national side themselves - Glasgow sent 14 to France as part of Gregor Townsend's initial Scotland squad while Jonny Matthews was added as an injury replacement - it has been an unfamiliar Warriors side that has been preparing for the new campaign.
After suffering the disappointment of a home quarter-final loss to eventual champions Munster last time around, they edged Zebre at Scotstoun in their first tune-up fixture before the weekend's loss to Ulster.
The game, played at a Gaelic football ground in Cavan almost 100 miles from Belfast due to Ulster replacing their home pitch, saw the notional hosts dominate possession with Glasgow having to defend for lengthy periods.
The 19-14 scoreline, with Dobie and replacement hooker Gregor Hiddleston crossing for Glasgow, came after Ulster scored three 2first-half tries but not a single point after the turn.
"We got a lot from that, it was a really good hit out," said the 22-year-old Dobie who captained the youthful Warriors side.
"There's a lot defensively that we've been working on that we were able to put into practice.
"If you look back at possession stats we probably didn't see much of the ball.
"Something we need to look at is our attack but in terms of a defensive performance, I think we had some really good sets.
"When they have the ball for that long in the game, it's inevitable that they're going to score.
"That's something we need to look at going into this season, but at this stage something we can be proud of is the effort, especially defensively.
"That second-half, they had possession for the majority of it and didn't get over the line. That's massive for us.
"To win big games and close games, the defence is what is going to get you over the line.
"To have a game like this so early, we can build on it in terms of our attack."
