Gregor Townsend braced for Thomond trip

Gregor Townsend knows how tough it is to win at Thomond Park in the best of circumstances and he recognises it will be an awful lot harder for his Glasgow Warriors players in these most emotional of times at Munster.

Having beaten Leicester Tigers in impressive style last Friday in their Champions Cup Pool 1 opener at Scotstoun, Townsend’s Warriors earned the right to be brimming with confidence travelling to Limerick this weekend to try and repeat their PRO12 victory at Thomond Park in 2014-15.

The tragic death of Anthony Foley, though, has meant a recalibration for the Scots, who will now enter a stadium filled with grief at the loss of a favourite son. Glasgow will clearly want to continue their winning ways but such an atmosphere would be as beyond the experience of the visiting players and coaches as it is for the home side.