Warriors are up for battle

Almost half a century has come and gone since Europe last belonged to Glasgow, when Jock Stein’s famously home-spun Celtic Bhoys beat Inter Milan in the 1967 final.

Talk of the city’s rugby team emulating the immortal Lisbon Lions by lifting the Champions’ Cup trophy at Twickenham next May may be ludicrously premature but there can be no doubting the emergence of a new contender — the Warriors from Clydeside.

They are not only right up there with the usual heavyweight suspects — Leinster, Munster, Toulon, Toulouse — but they are on top of the pile after the opening two rounds.