'Toughest club in Europe right now' - Scotland star aware of Glasgow threats as coach makes 'favourites' claim

The 27-year old has retained his place in the starting XV for the visiting side as they take on Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun. The former London Irish man scored the opening try in Toulon’s Round of 16 win over Stormers last time out and was described by head coach Pierre Mignoni as ‘exceptional’ in the aftermath.

French counterpart Baptiste Serin has returned from injury in time for the match but has to settle for a spot among the replacements in the match day squad. As far as White is concerned, Toulon will be facing the best team in Europe right now and will have to put in a strong performance to have any hope of a result.

‘A pleasure to play against my friends’

Speaking ahead of the match, he said (originally in French): “The team feels good. We trained hard this week. We kept the momentum from last week and we corrected our mistakes. We have tried to improve our level for the game against Glasgow.

“Glasgow are in form at the moment. they're playing very well. They're probably the toughest club in Europe now. We will need to play very well to win the game. It's a big challenge for us but we're excited about it.”

White added that although he is looking forward to the match, he hasn’t been in touch with any of his Scotland colleagues this past week. Instead, he is fully focused on his clubmates and preparing for this important match.

“It's a pleasure to play against my friends,” said White. “I'm staying focused here, I'm training hard. My focus is on our plan to play a good game. I didn't talk much with the players this week.

"We're confident with our plan. We're a good team,we're working hard this week. We know if we play together with good energy and rhythm, we can play a good game.”

Glasgow have ‘one of the best attacks in Europe’

Toulon head coach Pierre Mignoni also described Glasgow as ‘favourites’ going in and, like White, considers them amongst the toughest teams in the competition to play right now.

“We're playing a very, very good team.” said Mignoni (in French). “Glasgow is a bit like Scotland, the style of the game will be similar.

“The conditions will be different, of course, but it's a team that looks a lot like its national team. A team that is a favourite, you have to say it clearly.

“A team that is the first in the URC, that is the first in attack, that has one of the best attacks in Europe. A team that has international players everywhere, very dangerous players.

“So there's nothing to say, they are largely favourites for this game. This is a quarter-final, you have to give everything and we know very well that the task will be difficult but we won't have a choice but to do at least as well as we did last week.”

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