Win or go home: Glasgow Warriors warned not to waste play-off advantage

Glasgow Warriors worked hard to finish first in the United Rugby Championship and Josh McKay has urged his team-mate not to waste the opportunity it has given them in the play-offs.

Top spot means Franco Smith’s side will have home advantage for as long as they remain in the competition and it begins this Friday with a quarter-final against Connacht at Scotstoun.

McKay was part of the Warriors squad which won the URC in 2024 when they had to do it the hard way, beating Munster away in the semis and the Bulls at altitude at Loftus Versfeld in the final. They now have an opportunity to repeat that success but the full-back knows there is no margin for error.

Glasgow Warriors' Josh Mckay in action during the win over Cardiff in the BKT United Rugby Championship at Scotstoun Stadium on May 8. | SNS Group

“Obviously it was pretty challenging doing it in the fashion we did it in 2024, and yeah, you work all season to try and put yourself at the top of the log, but I think we've just got to flush that now, just take it one at a time, because ultimately you don't want to look ahead too soon, drop out in the quarters and go, ‘man, what an opportunity wasted that was’, you know?

One game at a time

“We've just got to take it one at a time and pour everything into every game as every other team is going to do. That's what play-offs rugby is all about, it's win or go home.”

McKay, 28, is in his fifth season at Glasgow, the last four of which have been under Smith. The Warriors have challenged for the top honours in Europe and the URC since the arrival of the South African coach and McKay believes the club have benefited from the stability and coaching acumen Smith has brought.

“Obviously it helps when there's continuity season on season,” he said. “You feel like when you come back in for pre-season and when the international boys come back in, we've got a pretty clear model of how we want to play.

“I guess we could look at that first season Franco came in, there were so many learnings from that first season, even down to little things like how Franco wants drills run.

Josh McKay, left, believes Glasgow Warriors have benefited from the continuity of having Franco Smith as head coach. | SNS Group

“When we're in that first season, there might have been a bit more explanation, whereas now we know sort of what the drills are, we know how we want to play, we've had a lot of continuity, which just sort of means you're almost starting further ahead than where you usually would be.”

Last game at Scotstoun

Friday’s game will be Glasgow’s last of the season at Scotstoun regardless of the result. If they win, they will decamp to Murrayfield for the semi-final which will be against the winners of the Bulls v Munster tie.

Scotstoun will next week begin its transformation into a Commonwealth Games venue and will host the athletics programme at Glasgow 2026. The stadium would have been too small in its present form to stage a URC semi in any case.

The Warriors are still waiting to hear whether Murrayfield would be available for the final should they make it that far. The country singer Zach Bryan is due to play a concert at the national stadium on Sunday, June 14, six days before the URC final. It remains to be seen if the stage and rigging can be dismantled in time.