IF THERE is one striking difference between Glasgow Warriors and Munster as they prepare for their final tonight, it is the gulf in experience of playing and winning these games.

In the last 20 years, Munster have reached seven European and Celtic finals and won four of them; Glasgow have reached only one, which they lost.

It means that right across the Irish province, from the back-room staff to the coaches and leading players, there is hands-on understanding of what it takes to come out on top on these big occasions, and since they have won nothing since 2011, they are anxious to give the new generation the same experience.

When it comes to Glasgow, the big-final winning experience comes down to just one player: Josh Strauss, who takes over the on-field captaincy for this evening's game. In his last Currie Cup campaign before coming to Scotland, he led the Lions all the way to the climax where they beat the Sharks 42-16 in Johannesburg, making him the not only the lone Glasgow player who has made that march to the podium to lift a trophy, but the only one with a winners medal in a drawer.

"Any experience helps you in this situation," he reflected as the team prepared to fly to Belfast. "Obviously, it was a different competition, but the build-up and things like that are very similar. I feel I've been very lucky to be in situations like that, it has helped me with my own nerves.

"You try to talk to other guys, get them calm. But everyone learns it through their own experience and making last year's final is a big thing for us coming to this week. Having been there and learning from those experiences, we can try to do this week better.

"The focus is very much on the game. It's something the coaches don't even have to say. It is in the back of our minds, and everyone knows how much this means to Al [Kellock] and everyone else who is leaving. We know what it means to them so to get the win for them would be so much sweeter. It gives it so much more meaning.

"When I was back in South Africa, we had a good mix of experience and youth, and I think we also have that at Glasgow this year. We have guys who are having their last games in Glasgow Warriors colours, but we also have young guys who have come through this season and been absolutely brilliant, the like sof Finn Russell, Adam Ashe and all the rest."

Even with his experience and though he is nominally captain from the start, Strauss still expects to defer to Al Kellock, who has been dropped to the bench for his final game before heading into retirement. As Strauss says, it is Kellock that everybody sees as the club captain - all he will be doing is leading the team out at the start.

"We couldn't ask for a better leader than Al Kellock," Strauss added. "All the pieces are there and it is just up to us to put them together. Al is very much the captain still, he does most of the talking. No one sees him as being on the bench; his presence is that of the captain and it doesn't matter what number is on his back. We all know and follow what he does.

"It's quite obvious that Al has the gift of the gab. In those terms, I learned a lot from him. I had never been someone who was overly vocal in training, but it is something I have learned from Al by observing what he does. He has helped me a lot in getting my message across. I'm very grateful to him for that."

It must be said, though, that no amount of leadership will matter if the team is not firing properly, as happened in last year's final when a lot of good rugby was undone by crucial mistakes before they crumbled in the final minutes. Possibly they were mentally drained by the occasion, possibly they tried to go off too fast and could not sustain it; but whatever the reason, Glasgow were well beaten and he knows another sub-par performance will be just as ruthlessly punished this week.

"It's not going to be an easy game. It will come down to that 81st minute of working your backside off. That's what we did last week [in the semi final against Ulster]," Strauss said. "Munster love the set piece and they are very good at it. That's something we have to counter and we have to be as good, if not better. But we relish the challenge. It going to be tough, as it always is. Munster are an exceptional team, as we saw in the last game when we were down there. We have to adapt better to the speed and their tempo."

For Strauss personally, winning the Pro12 could be a stepping stone to his first Scotland cap - he qualifies on residency just before the World Cup kicks off - but that is nowhere near his thoughts at the moment. Those are entirely centred on a grabbing his second trophy.