Why Glasgow Warriors must disregard Sharks’ league position in first of three South African clashes

It’s the Sharks up first, with Edinburgh’s recent conquerors looking to make it five wins in a row when they take on Franco Smith’s side at Scotstoun on Friday.

The Durban-based franchise have turned their season around in recent weeks and although it’s probably too late for them to make the URC play-offs, they remain on course to become the first South African team to claim European silverware. Their 36-30 home win over Edinburgh last Saturday sealed their place in the semi-finals of the EPCR Challenge Cup where they will face Clermont Auvergne at Twickenham Stoop on May 4.

Before that, they’ve got league games against Glasgow and Scarlets as they look to improve on a lowly 13th place in the URC. The Warriors are at the other end of the table and are desperate to hang on to second spot to seal home advantage in the play-offs.

“It obviously gives you a big advantage, being at home, being in your own environment, not being interrupted by travel, all that kind of stuff,” said McDowall, the Glasgow centre. “After the disappointment of last year, losing at home to Munster [in URC play-off quarter-finals], we want another crack at that to give our fans, hopefully, a home quarter, and even a home semi to cheer about. We hope to make this a place where teams don’t want to come and play.”

Glasgow haven’t lost a regular season URC game at Scotstoun since Smith took over but McDowall expects a tough test against the star-studded Sharks.

“They pose a massive threat,” he said. “You can forget about their early season form now, I think they’ve really grown into the team everyone expected them to be right from the start.

“We’re under no illusions about their league position, about them being out the top eight. We know they’re going to come here full of confidence, with a bounce in their step, and they’re going to want to keep that momentum going towards the Challenge Cup semi-final - that’s their way of getting into the Champions Cup now. So we’ll expect them to come here full of energy, full of momentum and ready to have a go at us.”

After the Sharks, Glasgow will take on Zebre in Italy before heading to South Africa next month to play the Bulls and Lions.

“Obviously, playing over there is different because the travel plays a massive part, and you could see that in Edinburgh’s results. It’s tough going over there,” said McDowall.

“They’re massively physical teams. You look at the Sharks and they’ve got eight Springboks who won the World Cup in the summer. Set-piece is going to play a massive part in it. At the scrum, you can see the way their front row has been taking teams apart. We’re more than confident our pack of forwards can match that and I think if you can get on top of them in that regard it goes a long way to winning the game.”