In today's Sunday Times, Sean talks to Lewis Stuart about the difficulties in preparing a club for Celtic League and European Cup action when all Scotland's resources seem to be being thrown at the international set-up.
"There has to be more emphasis placed on the club level, and I believe it will happen," Sean tells Lewis Stuart. "Professional teams must believe there is a reason for them being there, other than just as back-up for the national squad. They have to be competitive entities in their own right. Players have to believe there is a reason for doing all those hours in training, to be part of a winning team. We want them all to be proud of Glasgow, Edinburgh or the Borders getting up that Celtic League table or moving on in Europe.
"We aim to be the No1 Scottish side on a regular basis, but that is too insular. We also have to compete in the League and Europe. We cannot have teams believing that if they are playing a Scottish side then it is a guaranteed four points, which was the case in the Celtic League last season when we occupied the bottom three places. I found that very hard to stomach. At Glasgow we have moved on but we still have a long way to go before we can compete with the international selections that we are facing in the Heineken Cup. It is difficult, but that is our aim.
"In professional sport, there cannot be any excuses. It is all about results. But when you do play Toulouse, Llanelli or Northampton in the Heineken Cup and even Munster in the Celtic League, the difference in squad depth, facilities and numbers of support staff is stark. It is difficult to see how we can compete, but we have to do it."
Glasgow currently sit fifth in the Celtic League, four places and 10 points ahead of Edinburgh — who have a game in hand — and six places and 18 points ahead of the Borders. That is despite losing almost the entire back division, the back row and a chunk of the front five at the start of most weeks when they are taken off for training by Matt Williams, the Scotland coach. Sean is unhappy with the situation.
"I know it goes with the territory. It is the structure we are in. You don't like it, but you have to accept it," he says. "To a certain extent it demeans the Celtic League if national coaches can take top players when they want. I can understand why they have done that but we are the ones getting it in the neck from the clubs when we use their top players. But we have to gear ourselves to what the national coach wants. We are pulled both ways.
"We want to get to a state where Matt Williams trusts us to do the work he needs to be done. We met him and he knows that he has to get our trust and we have to get his, it works both ways. We are all aiming for the same thing. Matt and Willie Anderson (the Scotland assistant coach) are good coaches but they must trust us to deliver."
You can read Lewis Stuart's Sunday Times article here