PETE Murchie only played once at Welford Road during his days as a Glasgow player.

But, as he prepares to return to the venue as Scotland ‘A’ defence coach on Sunday, he has every right to regard it as a very happy hunting ground.

Down the decades a visit to the Leicester Tigers’ home has invariably been seen as a daunting occasion, but at the start of 2017 the English giants were in a bit of a slump - one which the Warriors exploited to the full. Gregor Townsend’s side needed a win to get to the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup that afternoon, and they got it in some style.

“I've only played there once,” recalled Murchie, who was a late replacement in the pool game for Stuart Hogg. “It's quite a good memory, because we won 43-0 with Glasgow. 

“It's a classic old rugby ground and the pitch is in good nick. The Leicester fans love it and I’m sure the atmosphere will be good.”

Around 6,000 spectators will be at the ‘A’ international between England and Scotland, and the atmosphere they will generate should guarantee a wholehearted encounter. “It will probably feel like 20,000, because it's been that long since we had fans in,” Murchie added. “That will be awesome.” 

On paper this is preparation for Scotland for the full internationals against Romania and Georgia that will follow next month, but the coach is in no doubt that his own players are gearing up for it as if it were a full international. 

“We’re treating it like a Test week in terms of our build-up,” he continued. “It’s been a long time since the A side had a fixture, so it’s great to have these fixtures back, and obviously a game against England is always a big occasion. So the fact that we’ve got
this game is brilliant: it’s a really meaningful fixture for us and we’re treating it like a Test match.

“It’s the end of a long season, but you can tell the guys are still keen. They’ve got that renewed energy from coming into a different environment, an international environment. Everyone seems in a really good place, to be fair.

“The guys seem really focused on this game. It’s a three-game series, this is the first one, and everyone is really focusing on this game. There hasn’t been a massive amount of talk around what comes next, because we’re really focused on this game.

“But obviously guys know that if you play well, it does your chances a world of good. Not just for now as well: guys have got the opportunity to come into an international environment and show what they can do for the future as well, show that they’re ready now.”

The rarity of the fixture makes it a hard one to plan for, especially as both teams will have a significant number of absentees because of Lions duty. But Murchie insisted that, rather than fret unduly about the make-up of the English side, he and the rest of the coaching team led by Mike Blair would concentrate on their own squad’s preparation.

“They are going to name a strong team, but we really need to focus on ourselves. We’ll obviously do our homework, but the main thing is that we have our own house in order.

“When you simplify it and make it about yourselves it becomes a bit easier. We will have to problem-solve during the game - that's part of being an international rugby player. Teams in the Six Nations can change their game plan from week to week and you've got to react. 

“It will be a good challenge for us to problem-solve during the game - that will be key. But if we focus on ourselves and implement what we want to do, we’ll get a better result than worrying about what could happen and what they could bring.”