Townsend will want to bow out of Glasgow on a Euro high

WHILE the BT Premiership kicked off yesterday, the Pro12 Championship has to wait another week before starting in earnest. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow will be wanting to make their marks.

Glasgow had a good year last season which culminated in their reaching the Pro12 final to defend their title, won the previous year.

On the day, however, Connacht, the unfancied and relatively under-funded Irish province demonstrated just what could be achieved over the course of a year with teamwork and a ‘never-say-die’ attitude, a la Leicester City.

Edinburgh, on the other hand, were inconsistent and ended up outside of the top six in the league.

They did earn the bragging rights over their Scottish counterparts by winning the 1872 Cup amid controversy, but that was the highlight of the year.

Both teams have lost players and signed others and in this regard, Glasgow are likely to be harder hit.

Leone Nakarawa will undoubtedly be missed the most by the Warriors players and fans alike. He was so influential and quick as a lock forward that he was good enough to be in the Fijian gold medal winning sevens team and when you watched him play for Glasgow and he was on form, Glasgow were irresistible.

Replacing him and, in particular, what he brought to the style of rugby that Gregor Townsend wants his team to play, is going to be very difficult.

Edinburgh have bolstered their squad with a number of South Sea Islanders, none of them household names.

I’m sure that the Edinburgh fans would have loved to see a few big names join their squad to launch a serious assault on the Pro12. But whether budgets are tight or players don’t fancy coming to the capital, the squad doesn’t seem strong enough to really challenge for a play-off position come the end of the season.

Glasgow have greater strength-in-depth and more players with international experience, so you would expect Townsend’s team to be in contention towards the end of the season.

Interestingly, I expect Townsend will want to prove a point by doing better on the European stage in this season, his last as coach of the Warriors.

The European Cup is one in which Glasgow have consistently under-achieved – something that Townsend will want to address.

Neither side has enjoyed the best of preseason form in their friendlies.

Glasgow have lost to Harlequins and Gloucester, while Edinburgh have been defeated by Sale and Newcastle. Pre-season form means little, but it should be a good wake up call for the season.

I expect that both sides will end up in similar positions in a few months. But that Glasgow will also perform better in European competition.