YOU do not become champions of England and Europe without having some attacking prowess, and Saracens showed that in abundance last weekend when they beat Bath 53-10. It was an outstanding display of offensive rugby, and confirmed the north London team as hot favourites to win Sunday’s Champions Cup final against Glasgow.

But Scotland international Sean Maitland, who played in that win over Bath, believes it is actually the Warriors, for whom he played for three seasons from 2012, who have the best attack in the competition. The Scottish side never made it out of the pool stages in Europe when Maitland was there, so the 28-year-old was delighted for his former team-mates when they got through to the last eight this season as one of the three best runners-up from the five groups.

“They’ve been absolutely class,” Maitland said. “They’ve played the best style of attacking rugby in the whole of Europe. It’s been great to watch them play, and score tries.

“Obviously it’s been good to see them progress through Europe, especially as I was there for three years, and coming up just shy in my last year was tough to take. But I know a lot of the guys, so I’m just happy they’ve ticked that box and got through into the European knockout stages.”

“It’s massive for Glasgow to finally get out of their group, but it’s a one-off game, it’s knockout rugby. Glasgow are bringing busloads of fans down and I’m sure it’s going to give them inspiration and motivation when they see how many fans have made it all the way down from Glasgow. But then our home crowd has been massive for us as well this season, so I think that playing at home will give us a big boost.”

Home advantage meant nothing the last time the Warriors played in England - back in January, when they beat Leicester Tigers 43-0 to make it through to the quarter-finals behind Munster. Saracens are in much better form than Leicester were then, but that result still made everyone in English rugby sit up and take notice of just how well Glasgow played.

“Yeah, that was a hell of a game,” Maitland added. “Everyone here thought it was going to be a lot closer than it was, although Glasgow needed to win to qualify so they really showed up. Leicester were going through their own problems and had obviously already been knocked out, but to go to Welford Road and win was a hell of a result. I know how tough that is to do from my time with Sarries.”

The pitch at Allianz Park, Saracens’ home ground in north London, is an artificial surface like Scotstoun. That should make for a fast game, and it should also help the Warriors feel a bit more at home. Even so, Saracens showed in that match against Bath just how well they can play on a quick pitch.

“You might have seen the game at the weekend when we chucked the ball around more than people are used to seeing us do,” Maitland said. “I’m sure the Glasgow team are going to come down with an attacking mindset, and the weather’s meant to be nice, so hopefully it’ll be a good, open game of rugby.”

Although born and brought up in New Zealand, where he played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby before heading for Scotland, Maitland feels a connection with Glasgow that stretches back to long before he signed for the Warriors. It is a connection that he has also maintained since moving on, particularly because of the friendships he has maintained with the former clubmates he sees on Scotland duty.

“I’ve got a massive connection to Glasgow,” he explained. “For a start, it’s where my family are from, and I also spend three seasons there. I came in when the club were going through a lot of changes with Gregor coming in; I think it was his first year as well. Being part of the team which nearly won the league” - they were PRO12 runners-up in 2014, then won the title the following year - “was a massive achievement as well.

“Glasgow means a lot to me. I still have a lot of family there, and a lot of close friends that still play for Glasgow - most of the guys that I play for Scotland with – Hoggy [Stuart Hogg], Tommy Seymour, Ryan Wilson, Horney [Peter Horne], just to name a few. It’s a long list.

“So it’s great to see them and catch up with them in the Scotland environment. It’s going to feel funny to play against them – when the draw came out and it said that we were playing Glasgow I immediately got butterflies. You’ve got to try and treat it as just another game, but obviously there’ll be a bit of feeling behind it.

“This’ll be the first time I’ve faced Glasgow. I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be cool to play against all my mates, but a little bit weird at the same time. I’m looking forward to playing against all of them.”