As a member of the Glasgow Warriors playing roster for eight years from 2009 – a period when the Scotstoun club reached the PRO12 (as the URC was then known) play-offs on six occasions and the last eight of the Heineken Cup in the last of those years – Pete Murchie has an insight into playing knock-out rugby which could be valuable this week.

With Stuart Hogg his rival for the No.15 jersey throughout that era, and Bernardo Stortoni also in the mix during that period, Murchie was not always in the match-day squad for these big one-off games, but as an astute student of the strategy and psychology of rugby he was able to take some valuable lessons on board.

Ultimately, the Warriors defence coach’s advice to the current crop of players as they prepare for their first European semi-final, against Scarlets away in the Challenge Cup on Saturday evening, is fairly simple.

“First of all, enjoy it,” said the 37-year-old, who played 116 games for Warriors and was capped three times by Scotland before moving into coaching, initially with Stade Nicois (Scottish Rugby’s partner club in France), then with Ayrshire Bulls, before becoming part of the back-room team at Warriors in March 2021.

“It’s a privilege to be involved in knock-out rugby; it’s obviously what you want to be involved in.

“Don’t over-egg it as well, I’d say. We want to stick with what has got us to this point. At the same time, there will be a bit more edge. Scarlets I’m sure will have an edge – it’s a semi-final and they look like selling it out, so there is going to be a big atmosphere there which we have to embrace but not get distracted by.”

Warriors have tasted success against the Scarlets as recently as a fortnight ago, and although the context and conditions are going to be very different on Saturday, Murchie believes that gritty 12-9 win can be a valuable foundation for the team’s preparation for this game – and he pointed out a key area for match officials, led by Mathieu Reynal from France, to keep a close eye on.

“We had a bit of a dress rehearsal here the other week even though it was a monsoon at Scotstoun,” he said. “They went hard at our breakdown. Double jackals. It will be interesting to see how that gets refereed. There has been a fair amount put out about jackal technique and stuff. Whether they adapt, I’m not sure.

“They’ve got some good guys in and around the breakdown, so the game is pretty simple. It’s based on collisions and your breakdown needs to be sharp.

“When we’re in attack trying to play with quick ball, they’re trying to slow it down, so it’s who can do that better.”

Warriors’ victory over Connacht last Friday stretched their unbeaten record at home to 17 matches reaching all the way back to January 2022, and while their away record is not quite so unblemished, Murchie insisted that the team has exorcised the demons of last season when they lost their last six away games on the bounce, so they will not view this trip to Llanelli as significantly more daunting than playing at Scotstoun.

“It’s just about belief in the work we put in,” he said. “We were 31-0 up away from home against Munster a few weeks back, so we’ve shown we can transfer that [home form into away matches].

“Outside the first couple of games of the season where we were maybe inconsistent, we have changed that aspect and shown we can play just as well in away games. We have won six away from home this season [in all competitions] which is an awful lot more than last year, and a lot of that has been since the first few rounds.

“You’ve obviously got a few more people against you in the crowd but apart from that, it’s a mindset and trusting what we do.

“There’s a reason why we’re a good team, a reason why we are doing well in the league and have got to a semi-final [in Europe]. We’ve just got to leave it all out there.”

Murchie added that there are no significant new injury concerns after the bruising clash against Connacht.

“There are a few guys still being assessed but there’s nobody out at this stage, which is pleasing,” he said. “We’ll just see how they come through the next couple of days.

“At the other side, there are guys who have been injured and are coming back now. We will have a strong team going out there.”