Peter Horne draws parallels with 2015 after Glasgow reach Challenge Cup final

Peter Horne can sense 2015 vibes around Glasgow Warriors as they turn their attention to the United Rugby Championship play-off clash against Munster after breaking new European ground.

Franco Smith’s side recovered from an interval deficit against Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday to win 35-17 and reach the Challenge Cup final for the first time, where they will face Toulon in Dublin on May 19.

However, first comes the challenge of Munster at Scotstoun on Saturday.

Warriors’ assistant coach Horne played for Glasgow when they beat the Irish side 31-13 in the 2015 Pro12 Grand Final in Belfast and the former Scotland international sees similarities this season.

He said: “Absolutely. We spoke about it a little bit with a couple of the older boys who are still kicking about.

“There was times that year, in 2015, when we were flying but we had a couple of games before the final where we weren’t perfect.

“The semi-final against Ulster, we didn’t play well at all but we hung in there and we found a way to win, and there’s definitely some parallels to that.

“I feel we are in a good spot.

“Our game is going really well, we are defending really well, we are fit and we are showing a bit of that resilience and the lesson we learned from the weekend will stand us in much better stead.

“You would much rather learn those in a game you come through and winning with 35 points than it happens in a final against a certain opposition who is maybe even better.”

Toulon beat Benetton 23-0 in their semi-final on Sunday despite losing flanker Charles Ollivon to a red card after only six minutes.

Horne stressed that the Scotstoun side will put the final on the backburner to focus on this weekend.

“It is knockout rugby,” he said. “We are not getting too excited.

“They (Toulon) were very good playing with 14 men against Benetton who didn’t even trouble them. It was one-way traffic the whole game.

“They will be in a good spot. They are a big physical team but we back ourselves.

“We think that we have game to beat anyone we just have to turn up and do our job on the day.

“But we haven’t spoken about it at all since the changing rom after the (Scarlets) game. The focus turns to Munster and keep fighting on both fronts.”