Here's a tip for any side that might harbour hopes of winning the Magners League title. Whatever else you may do, just try to avoid Glasgow when you're coming down the home straight.
That painful lesson was learned by Ulster last weekend when Sean Lineen's side silenced most of the 8,056 supporters who had packed in to the province's Ravenhill fortress with a 24-10 victory. And it was the same bitter pill that Ospreys had to swallow when they pitched up at Hughenden on Friday evening, raced into a 26-9 lead, and then had their title aspirations shredded by a ferocious Glasgow comeback and a 29-26 Glasgow win.
Whatever happened to the notion that a Scottish side, comfortably complacent in a mid-table slot, should see out a season with a sequence of dozy displays? It would have been easy to convince anyone who had forgotten to glance at the Magners League table before arriving at Hughenden that it was Glasgow who had championship honours in sight. There was a ravenous edge to their second-half performance, an almost palpable hatred of defeat.
Have they played better this season? Often. Was it their best win of the campaign? "Without a shadow of a doubt."
The words are those of Lineen himself, hoarse in the aftermath of an emotionally draining contest and a half-time address that had tested the limits of his normally laid-back larynx. "Against a team like the Ospreys, with the players they have, yes it was the best of the season," he explained.
"I'm so proud of what they did. They never gave up and there was a real passion there."
There could scarcely have been a better illustration of the surging desire in the Glasgow ranks than that offered by the performance of Dan Parks.
The fly-half's name is not one you often find in close proximity to such terms as "crash-ball specialist" and "long-range kicker", but the Parks try that had ignited the Glasgow comeback in the 38th minute was a powerful blast from a few yards out, while the 67th minute Parks penalty that clinched victory was a mighty effort from near halfway.
This from the same player whose horribly ham-fisted pass, half an hour into the game, had been snatched by the Welsh international winger Shane Williams, who then raced 70 metres for the Ospreys' third try. In a Scotland shirt, Parks has a habit of retreating into a shell of self-doubt in moments like these, but in putting the incident behind him he became an inspiration for the rest of the side.
All of which might have counted for nothing without the kind of grunt now offered by a Glasgow pack that, in previous incarnations, had tended to react to adversity with an uncanny impression of a doormat.
Brilliantly led by Alastair Kellock this season, it has also been bolstered by the arrival of a pair of authentic meat-and-gravy front-five forwards in the shape of prop Justin Va'a and lock Andy Newman.
"They've added the kind of bulk and experience we needed," purred Lineen.
"That's a forward pack full of grown men now. That's what has been missing at Glasgow in recent seasons. The single biggest difference for us this year has unquestionably been the pack."
Sean Lineen is aware of the danger of recruiting well but not wisely, so a commitment to Glasgow's cause and a willingness to buy into the team spirit he has worked hard to create are characteristics more likely to attract his attention than the possession of a stellar name.
Chris O'Young, the Western Force scrum-half, and London Irish prop Michael Collins both look certain to join the side soon, and it is a safe bet that Lineen will have scrutinised their personal qualities as closely as their playing abilities.
He said: "International players from other countries go for various reasons. One of them is money but, thank God, it's not only money because we still cannot compete financially with the big guns when they come hunting.
"Where possible, we need to look for Scottish replacements but it's a professional game and when they're not coming we have to get the balance right between making sure we're developing players from Scotland, but also be competitive in the Magners League."
Over the next few weeks, Glasgow's wider commercial picture should become clear, with an increasing likelihood that the side will be playing at Burnbrae next season. There is an urgent need for the side to develop the strong, off-field identity it has lacked in recent seasons, but Lineen is refreshingly reluctant to bellyache about the problems of logistics and facilities his side has faced in that time. "It's a good excuse to have," he smiled. "But where you train and play doesn't make you drop the ball. We've got to try and get rid of as many excuses as possible."
The full article can be read online here.