I watched Connacht's last URC match: here are three things Glasgow Warriors should watch out for

The journey begins at Scotstoun this Friday night with the visit of Connacht in the quarter-finals. If Warriors can negotiate that tie they have ‘home’ advantage at Murrayfield in the semis where they will face either Bulls or Munster.

There is still uncertainty as to where Glasgow’s ‘home’ final would be played but, for now, the message is simply to not look past their next opponents. Stuart Lancaster’s side were 26-5 winners away to Edinburgh in their last outing and here are three points from that match that Warriors’ should be aware of before facing the Irish side.

1. Turning defence into attack

For the bulk of their win at the Hive, certainly during the first half, Connacht were having to fend off wave after wave of Edinburgh offence. They did that effectively with some expert jackaling and dominant tackles which put the hosts on the back foot and forced errors.

One of those errors resulted in a scrum inside their own 22 from which the visitors managed to orchestrate a line break and rush up the pitch and over the try line. It was a deserved reward for their ferocious defensive effort up to that point which also gave them the opportunity to demonstrate another weapon in their arsenal.

2. End-to-end offloading

Glasgow’s scramble defence will have to be on point when Connacht come to town. Similarly to their win over Edinburgh, the Irish outfit can expect to be on the back foot for large spells as Warriors’ look to make the most of home advantage and build-up the scores.

Connacht thrived in the chaos whether it came from a line break or capitalising on an Edinburgh handling error and once they got through the initial wall of defenders they were able to execute a fast paced passing game that sent them crashing towards the try line. Whoever wears the 15 jersey for Warriors on Friday night will need to keep their wits about them.

3. Patience and discipline

As mentioned, you would expect Glasgow to have the lion’s share of possession and territory with home advantage when the team who finished top of the URC standings hosts a side who sneaked into the play-offs after the final round of regular season fixtures. Connacht will likely expect this as well and will be prepared for it based on their last outing.

While they perhaps weren’t necessarily happy to let Edinburgh have more of the ball it certainly wasn’t a problem for them. Their defence wasn’t just belligerent but also patient and, for the most part, disciplined.

Warriors need to be cautious of not forcing the issue if they can’t get an early score or find themselves trailing at any point. Connacht shut down Edinburgh by being diligent and focused without the ball and by making the most of their chances when they came and that strategy is surely the most obvious one to take when approaching a match away from home as underdogs like they will on Friday.

Glasgow will have done their homework though and will be aware of everything above so you expect they will be ready to bring their own patience and diligence to the quarter-final match up.

Your next rugby read: Communication ban ahead of Glasgow Warriors v Connacht - with no lack of motivation