GLASGOW will be second favourites by a long way when they take on Saracens on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup.
The London club are English and European champions, they have home advantage, and their squad also includes several key members of the England side that has just won the Six Nations.
For Peter Horne, however, those facts are overshadowed by the knowledge of how well his own team can play on their day. And the Warriors back, who began Saturday’s 35-24 Pro12 win over Connacht at centre before taking over at stand-off from Finn Russell, is encouraged by memories of his side being written off on other occasions before matches they have gone on to win.
“We’ve had that for years, but it doesn’t really matter,” Horne said. “We believe we have the firepower to beat anyone, so we’ll be going down there with the bit between our teeth. We’re in a great place. The Scotland boys have come back full of beans and really lifted training.
“It’s a massive week. We’re in this competition to win it, and we need to make sure we turn up and put in a good performance.”
It will almost certainly have to be a more complete performance than the one which in the end was enough to see off Connacht. They failed to make the most of their first-half domination, and more ruthless opponents might have punished Glasgow more severely.
“Our defence was a lot better in that second half,” Horne said. “Ultimately we put in a good, polished second half. We looked after the ball and I felt that our fitness prevailed – it showed at the end when we were able to run in a couple of tries.
Horne is match-fit again after an ankle injury but whether that will be enough for a starting place against Saracens remains to be seen. He said. “Every day of my rehab, the quarter-final was in the back of my mind. That’s me had four 80 minutes for the first time since last season now. I’ll be working my nuts off this week to put my hand up for selection.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here