GREGOR Townsend paid tribute to the late Munster coach Anthony Foley yesterday after attending the funeral of a man he knew as an opponent both from his playing days and from coaching. Townsend’s Glasgow Warriors team meet Munster in Limerick today in the Irish province’s first match since Foley died last Sunday at the age of 42, and the Scot believes the game will be a fitting tribute to the man who was nicknamed Axel.

“It was inspiring to me to have known him and to be at the funeral,” Townsend said. “Playing a game in his memory should be enough to inspire both sets of players, and I really hope it inspires ours for what will be an emotional and memorable occasion for everybody.

“The game will be a special occasion. It will be played in front of 28,000 supporters and we have to play really well and focus on what we did well in the past. We have to be in tune with what had been working for us and have to give our all.

“Munster will come out all guns blazing against us and want to win it for Axel. Early on it will be really full on and we have to handle that.

“What hit home to me being at his funeral, and it will also hit home to me at the game passing the tributes to him outside, going into the ground, is how inspiring a life he had, how much he was loved, what he had achieved. There were British and Irish Lions turning out in his honour at his funeral, some travelling long distances. There were young boys there from local rugby clubs lining the streets at the funeral.”

It would have been tough enough in normal times for Glasgow to get the better of Munster in this Champions Cup match. The circumstances in which it is played simply make it all the tougher a psychological challenge too.

The Warriors have regularly got the better of Munster, whom they beat in the 2015 PRO12 final, and they have also shown themselves more than capable of defeating Ulster and Leinster - the two other Irish teams who have won the European Cup. By the same token, Townsend’s team have proven themselves capable of beating the best teams from England too, as they did most recently against Leicester in the opening Pool One game.

What they have not done, however, is play at their best consistently in Europe. Townsend is convinced that if they learn to do that, they can go on to win the competition. “There's no reason why we can't,” he said.

“When Edinburgh got to the semi-finals, there were three PRO2 teams in the last four. The PRO12 teams started really well last week, so it's now about taking opportunities. If you can get out of your pool you are three games away from winning. But the tough thing is getting out the pool.

“There are some really good teams in the PRO12 who can compete at the highest level. We have an opportunity this year, as we've had every year. We've played one game of the six, with the best possible outcome, so we have to make sure we do that and more over the next few weeks.

“It's a reality that we've never got to the quarter-finals as a club. We should have, given the rugby we've played, especially the last few seasons.

“We believe that we've not reached our potential. It's very difficult. You’re playing the best teams in Europe, and the last two seasons we've won three of the six games. We need to win more than that.”

Consistency is one key element, then, and certainly one that Glasgow have lacked at times. But genuine self-confidence is also vital, according to Townsend. The coach took his team to a PRO12 final which they lost before were able to win the following year, and he thinks that a similar process of on-field education has played a part in the Irish team’s progress.

“I think learning from your experiences is important,” he added. “Munster won it twice, but they lost in a final to Northampton and another final to Leicester. They had to win big games away from home in France against Castres and Toulouse. They created real momentum. Their mindset was: ‘This is European rugby, this is where we come alive’.

“If you’ve won before you win with huge confidence. That's what we have to do.”

The Warriors may have been lacking consistency so far this season in the league, but part of the problem has been changes to the starting line-up enforced by a number of injuries. This time round it is different, and Townsend has made only two changes from the team that started last week’s win over Leicester.

Sean Lamont has been named on the wing in place of Leonardo Sarto, who has a shoulder injury, and Alex Dunbar - who had to pull out at short notice last week because of illness - returns at centre instead of Mark Bennett. The latter drops down to the bench, meaning Nick Grigg misses out.

Munster (v Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park, today, 1pm): S Zebo; D Sweetnam, J Taute, R Scannell, K Earls; T Bleyendaal, C Murray; D Kilcoyne, N Scannell, J Ryan, D Ryan, B Holland, P O'Mahony, T O'Donnell, CJ Stander. Substitutes: D Casey, B Scott, S Archer, R Copeland, J O'Donoghue, D Williams, I Keatley, R O'Mahony.

Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg; S Lamont, A Dunbar, S Johnson, R Hughes; F Russell, H Pyrgos; G Reid, F Brown, Z Fagerson, T Swinson, J Gray, R Harley, R Wilson, J Strauss. Substitutes: P MAcArthur, A Allan, S Puafisi, L Wynne, S Favaro, A Price, M Bennett, P Murchie.