FRIDAY night was one of those evenings at Scotstoun where everything went right and everyone went home happy. The Glasgow supporters could celebrate their team’s 37-0 victory over Benetton, head coach Franco Smith took at least as much delight in the fact that no points were conceded as he did in the six tries scored, and the coaching staff as a whole were able to reflect with satisfaction on the increasing strength in depth of the Warriors squad.

This, after all, was a team missing 12 players because of Scotland duty and another eight through injury. Yet there was no certainly no sign of any dearth of quality or experience as debutants Alex Samuel, who started, and Euan Ferrie, who came off the bench, slotted in perfectly.

Still only 19, former Scotland Under-20 captain Samuel has been a star in the making for some time. He has had to wait patiently for his chance, and has spent much of the season with the Ayrshire Bulls in Super6, but is clearly ready for the step up.

“It was a bit of a dream come true,” the lock forward said after a result which saw Glasgow go into the URC’s three-week break with a record of won three, lost three. “Usually I’m on the other side of the fence as a fan, have been for about the last 10 years. It’s pretty cool.

“It was a lot faster [than Super6] and probably a bit more physical as well. My lungs are struggling a bit, but it was a good experience. I was going to make my debut last week and I was gutted when that game was called off. I had to take a step back, look at it, and keep working hard.”

If Samuel had one minor regret about being named in the starting line-up on Friday, it was the fact that he will not be able to play for the Bulls in today’s Super6 final against Watsonians. The pro game may indeed be faster and more physical, but he believes that the semi-professional competition has been excellent for his development.

“It’s been great. It’s really high-quality coaching down there. Loads of guys who have been pro in different environments are in that Super6 competition. It’s not just kids thrown in.

“It’s high-quality rugby, especially the two teams who are playing in the final on Sunday. I think it will be a really good game. I thought maybe if I was on the bench here I would try and sneak on to the bench there, but I don’t think so.”

The win over Benetton took the Warriors up to seventh in the table temporarily, just behind Edinburgh and Cardiff, who meet today at the Arms Park. Mike Blair’s team, like Glasgow, have three victories and three defeats from their six matches, and are understandably eager to go into the break with another win under their belts.

“It’s huge, especially given what it will do for us with Cardiff sitting around us in the table,” hooker Adam McBurney said. “Second to 10th is very tight, so we need to get points on the board to put us in the best position to climb up the ladder. We want to sign off with a win for this block if we can.”

Having said that, McBurney acknowledged that the Welsh side are in particularly good form at the moment, something that was starkly demonstrated last week when they beat the Stormers, the league’s reigning champions, 30-24.

“Especially at home they look like a team in form,” the front-row forward continued.“Stormers hadn’t been beaten for about 13 or 14 games before they played them. So anyone who can beat them is a team you have to be wary of. Their kicking game is fantastic and they pose a massive breakdown threat. But we believe that if we put the best version of ourselves on that pitch then we’ll be in with a great chance of winning.”

Most people would consider the best version of Edinburgh to be one in which the likes of Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham and Pierre Schoeman were all playing, but those three and 11 others are on Scotland duty. Yet, as Glasgow showed on Friday night, you do not always need your best individual players to produce an excellent team performance.