Glasgow Warriors shining light for Scotland in Champions Cup
North of Hadrian’s Wall there’s a proud rugby nation in Scotland. Their two flagship clubs, Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh, host the majority of the national team and the nation’s biggest overseas stars ply their trade in the country.
But the Investec Champions Cup and its predecessor top level competitions have never been a happy hunting ground for the Alba duo.
The best result for Scotland came in 2012 when Edinburgh reached the semi-finals; they lost 22-19. And in the total 44 entries between the two clubs in the Champions Cup they’ve collectively achieved four quarter-finals appearances, three in the round of 16 – introduced in 2021 – and one quarter-final play-off, which were disposed of in 1998.
Shifting needle
But the needle appears to be shifting just a little for Glasgow Warriors at least. Two seasons ago they reached the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup, the little sibling to the Champions Cup, but came up short in a heavy 43-19 defeat to Toulon.
But they backed up their final appearance with an astonishing victory in the 2023-24 United Rugby Championship competition, in which they toppled the Stormers at home before beating Munster in Ireland in the semi-final and the Bulls in Pretoria in the final.
It is undoubtedly one of the greatest club achievements in Scottish rugby history and has provided the club – who boasts the likes of Sione Tuipulotu, Rory Sutherland and Facundo Cordero – with a major springboard going into this year’s continental challenge.
They opened their account with an impressive 38-19 victory over Sale Sharks at Scotstoun and will this weekend head to Toulon looking to avenge their Challenge Cup final defeat in 2023. Though the club would argue they righted that wrong in last year’s pool stages with a 29-5 victory at home.
Thereafter they host the glitz and glamour of Racing 92 on what is bound to be a bitterly cold Friday night in Glasgow Warriors before finishing their campaign in London against Harlequins, the scene of their Round of 16 defeat last season.
Glasgow Warriors promise
“It’s obviously a good start. But we didn’t start that well last year against Northampton and still got to the round of 16,” highly rated head coach Franco Smith said after the victory last weekend.
“There’s a lot still to happen, also for the teams that lost [their opening match] in our pool. So, I’ll be reluctant at this stage to get overly excited.
“It will be good to go [to Toulon] and back up last year’s performance. They are a tough team. They’ve got some real quality players. We know that. They’re different from what we faced [against Sale].
“So, it’s about how we adapt, how we change. Our player group must be managed right. And we must make sure the squad can help us maintain this intensity, this enthusiasm and this creativity.”
Asking whether a Scottish team can win the Champions Cup is akin to questing whether football is coming home in England; it seems utterly pointless.
But Glasgow Warriors have given hope to those north of the border and they’re representing their nation as domestic champions with a new lease of life. They cannot be easily dismissed.