Glasgow challenged to complete Champions Cup double over Exeter

Glasgow coach Danny Wilson has challenged his side to rise to the occasion as they bid to complete a stunning Champions Cup double over Exeter at Sandy Park on Saturday.

The Warriors pulled off a brilliant 22-7 win over the Chiefs at Scotstoun the week before Christmas. However, Wilson knows his team will have to be fully focused if they are to have any chance of a repeat result.

He told Glasgow’s website: “After a good result on the weekend (against Ospreys) and a good week’s training, we are really looking forward to resuming our European campaign.

RugbyPass Offload | Episode 16

RugbyPass Offload | Episode 16

“After a good performance at home against Exeter, we know we’ll need to go up another level to beat them at Sandy Park.”

Wilson has made just one change to the team that claimed a bonus-point victory over the Ospreys last weekend, with Jack Dempsey returning to the back row.

Ryan Wilson, meanwhile, could become only the second player in Glasgow’s history to make 200 professional appearances if he gets off the substitutes’ bench.

Danny Wilson added: “There is an added motivation with Ryan being involved in his 200th game for the club. It’s a massive milestone and something we have talked about a lot this week.”

Glasgow wing Cole Forbes is relishing playing in front of supporters at Sandy Park after his team had to play their match against the Ospreys behind closed doors after crowd restrictions were imposed for three weeks by the Scottish Government in a bid to slow the latest wave of Covid-19.

Forbes said: “It was a bit of a shock against Ospreys because you could hear everything in the stadium and you kind of have to build your own energy.

“A crowd makes a huge difference. Usually when there’s a period when the game is going your way, you get a roar and a bit of energy from the crowd, but on Saturday we had to make our own energy and big the forwards up after a good scrum and things like that.

“A crowd makes a bigger difference than you realise, so it will be good to have fans in the stadium at Exeter and hopefully there will be a few away supporters to give it a bit of an edge.”

Forbes is braced for a tough test, adding: “We’ve had two big wins either side of the break (caused by a Covid outbreak), so we’ll have good confidence going into this one, but we know going away to Sandy Park is a whole other kettle of fish.

“We’re going to have to up our game from last week because Exeter will want to come back from the loss they had against us at Scotstoun. We know it’s going to be even tougher down there than it was the last time we faced them.”