Glasgow Warriors are looking to grab hold of a “massive opportunity” to reach the Challenge Cup final when they face Scarlets in the semi-finals this weekend.
The Warriors will travel to Wales to face their United Rugby Championship (URC) rivals in the last four of the tournament with all eyes on progressing to the final.
Glasgow are in great form of late, winning their last six games in all competitions, subsequently earning them a top-four finish in the URC.
Semi-final week
Their last outing was a narrow 29-27 win against Connacht, and assistant coach Peter Murchie is hoping the team will make the most of the energy a semi-final week brings.
He said: “We have had a really good day. We reviewed the game we just played, and there is always a spring in the step coming into semi-final week.
“We spoke about the occasion. I am sure there will be a full stadium down in Scarlets, so it is a massive opportunity, a semi-final; you are obviously one away from a final and an opportunity to win something so there is an excitement.
“For the group, it is excellent to have the opportunity to get to a big final.
“They haven’t happened every year, the last time for the club would have been the Celtic Park final (2019 Guinness PRO14 final).
“It would be something to cherish. It is a massive event, and if we could get ourselves to Dublin, it would be a big event, I am sure Glasgow would be behind us, and there would be a big turnout from the city to watch us but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, we have a tough one this weekend to get through.”
No injury update
The fitness of several stars was thrown into doubt after last weekend’s game, including Huw Jones (head), Jamie Dobie (knee), Cole Forbes (hamstring) and Lucio Sordoni (head), but Murchie could not offer any updates.
He said: “There is nothing to report on the guys that came out, they are still being assessed.
“But we are hoping that there is nothing major and we will have a good squad to select from at the weekend, and hopefully we will have a couple of guys coming back to us who have been injured in the last couple of weeks.
“So we will have a strong squad.
“If players are in your squad, they are good enough to play, and when they play they generally repay you, and it is a good loop to be on.
“If guys think they have a genuine opportunity, they train hard during the week.
“If they don’t have that, then human nature dictates that you maybe are not going to work as hard during the week.
“In pretty much every position, there is three you can pick from. That’s something that we maybe haven’t had in the last couple of years but we have now so that’s brilliant.”