THE moment you knew Glasgow Warriors were onto a loser against Edinburgh last weekend came only about five minutes into the match.

Finn Russell, the young fly half, chipped into space, won the race to recover the ball and set off for the goal line fully expecting his support to arrive long before the cover defence. He was wrong.

In the end, he had to kick again, his dozy teammates were penalised and the chance to harden opposition doubts and settle his side had gone. It proved a prophetic moment; heralding an evening when almost everything Glasgow did ended in a mistake and the men from the east held on to win the match and the 1872 Cup.

Any team's fly half is usually the first firm indicator of how the game is going. He is the weather vane that shows you exactly which way the momentum is swinging; if he is calm, collected and cocky, then the forwards are winning the battle up front and he has the time and space to dictate things, if he is rushed and stressed, then all around him is going to pot and he is almost certain to join them in the stew.

"There is only so much you can do in a game," Russell pointed out. "Edinburgh shut us down well and we did not get many opportunities. Personally, the few I did get I felt I did all right. We were better in the second half than the first. After our try we had momentum and a lot of possession but struggled to build phases.

"Edinburgh were really good in defence and in the rucks, slowing the ball down so it was hard for us to attack. We felt that if Edinburgh had allowed us to get quick ball it could have been a different game, but credit to them, they did slow our ball and stopped our attack."

With a couple of Scotland campaigns and a PRO12 semi final and final already featuring in Russell's impressive CV it is easy to forget how new he is to all this. We are still more than a month away from the anniversary of the game in Cardiff that really launched his career as a professional fly half, and even then it took a couple more months before Gregor Townsend, the Glasgow head coach, stopped switching him between fly half and centre and settled him into the pivot role.

Nor has it all been seamless progression. There was an early season injury to overcome and though Russell won plaudits for his performances in the November Tests, they were far from flawless with a few charged-down kicks notable in the debit column.

Then came the Toulouse matches, a game-turning sin bin, a couple of missed penalties and the discovery of just how brutal life in the professional limelight can be. "At times you think 'is this going to be a dip in the season' but after all the poor performances we have bounced back," Russell pointed out. "We did lose home and away to Toulouse but then we came back to beat Munster. After each loss we have come back on a high and stayed on the front foot - it is what we need this weekend.

"After the beating at the weekend from Edinburgh, it would be important to get a win whoever we had this week. It is the first time for a few years we have lost the 1872 Cup so we are still smarting from that."

Not that the weekend is going to be easy. The Scarlets have already beaten Glasgow once this season - admittedly when the Scots has 17 players unavailable because of international commitments or injuries picked up on Scotland duty - and are arriving in Scotstoun with the confidence boost of having just beaten the Ospreys, the top team in the league. They believe firmly they have the capability to add a double over Glasgow, currently second, to their list of victims.

From Russell's own point of view there is also the small matter of John Barclay in the opposition ranks. These days openside flankers do a lot more than simply torment fly halves, but that part of the game remains a special pleasure and Barclay is surely anticipating his return to Glasgow with relish.

He is not alone. Russell says he is also looking forward to the meeting: "He was here in my first year," he recalled. "He will have a point to prove coming here but our guys will have a point to prove as well to him. I'm sure he will be coming at me hard all game. I know what John is like, he is a world class openside so it will be tough for whoever is at 10 to get away from him and play their best rugby.

"I know the Scarlets have struggled a little away from home but we have seen how good they can be when they beat the top team in the league. It does not matter whether it is home or away for them, they will be confident. We will have to be at our best to beat them."

Realistically, it is a few weeks since Glasgow have actually been at their best, but as Russell pointed out they have that history of bouncing back - the loss at Ulster was followed by hammering Bath, the Toulouse defeats by beating Munster - and he thinks they can do it again. His own experiences in the opening minutes will show if he is right.