HAVING played and coached against him, been coached by him, and even come to blows with him on one occasion, Gregor Townsend knows Pat Lam very well. Because of that, the Glasgow coach is not at all surprised by the success that his Connacht counterpart has brought to the Irish province - success that has taken the Galway-based team through to the PRO12 play-offs for the first time.

But, while appreciative of Lam’s impact in the three years he has been in post, Townsend has also seen several other factors play their part in the rise of Connacht. They were in evidence last weekend, when the Warriors lost at the Sportsground in the last game of the regular season. Townsend and his squad now have to hope they will not be so apparent a week tomorrow, when the semi-final takes place at the same venue.

“I played against Pat a couple of times,” Townsend said yesterday. “And I remember having a bit of a fight with him in a game. I didn’t win. It was Northampton against Newcastle.

“I’ve been coached by him - he was the Scotland contact coach at the 2003 World Cup - and I’m now obviously coaching against him. He’s had great experience as a coach at ITM Cup level [in New Zealand], Super Rugby, and has done fantastic work at Connacht.”

Townsend has seen Connacht improve steadily in recent seasons - last year they finished just outside the top six - but he believes the difference in this campaign has been partly down to hard work, and partly thanks to Lam’s insistence on playing adventurous rugby. “We had never lost at Connacht, and part of the reason for that was that we prepared so well over the last few years because we respected them so much,” he continued. “They were a very tough team, very effective round the breakdown and set piece. I’d say their lineout drive was better than any in the competition.

“Their attack has gone to another level this year, and Pat told me they did a lot of work in the pre-season. During the season they were determined to stick with their approach to move the ball and it has brought rewards. If you have a go it has more chance of coming off.

“The emergence of young players has helped as well. They have great players coming through, which shows a mindset of giving players a chance. They are an excellent side, they fully deserve to be in the last four and, after beating us, they deserve to host a semi-final.”

Scrum-half Henry Pyrgos is recovering well from the neck injury that ruled him out of the Warriors squad last week, and should be available for selection. Centre Alex Dunbar is doubtful after being injured in the 14-7 defeat, and a decision will be taken at the start of next week. A disciplinary hearing into the sending-off against Connacht of prop Sila Puafisi is expected on Monday, meaning that, by Tuesday, Townsend should know exactly who is available for the semi-final, the winners of which will play either Ulster or Leinster in the final at BT Murrayfield on 28 May. He expects those he selects to be more self-possessed than some players were six days ago, and also expects a better all-round performance from his team.

“Emotional control in a game that is so highly contested, when the crowd are cheering every decision - you have to make sure you’re still doing what you set out to do. Jonny [Gray] will put his hand up, because he gave away a penalty that led to a lineout drive and then a try. Then Sila’s incident ended with a red card. We have to make sure that we keep our emotions in check.

“As a group, and that includes coaches and players, there was a feeling that we didn’t play as well as we could. There was also a feeling that there were a lot of good things that didn’t lead to points, which would have on another day. It’s about working out how we convert opportunities.

“The building blocks are still there, but we know we can perform much better. But Connacht can play better too, especially on a dry day.”

Meanwhile, Warriors centre Mark Bennett is one of five Scots to be included in Team GB’s wider sevens squad from which the final dozen for the Olympic Games in Rio will be chosen. The other four - Jamie Farndale, Gavin Lowe, Scott Riddell and Mark Robertson - are all specialist sevens players.

The group of 25 will assemble at the end of this month for a seven-week training programme that will take in four international tournaments. The squad of 12 to compete in the Games will be announced on 19 July, the same day as the women’s squad is chosen.