Henry Pyrgos expects emotional game at Thomond Park

Glasgow Warriors co-captain Henry Pyrgos believes Saturday's clash against Munster at Thomond Park will be filled with emotions after the death of former Ireland captain Anthony Foley last weekend.

Foley, 42, who was also the head coach of Munster died in his team hotel in Paris ahead of the Champions Cup clash against Racing 92 last Sunday following which the game was postponed as a mark of respect to him.

With Foley's funeral taken place on Friday in his hometown in County Clare, a day before Munster's clash against Glasgow, Pyrgos says he is expecting the Irish province to play at their best with emotions running high.

"Obviously the circumstances are incredibly sad. On behalf of all the players at Glasgow, all our thoughts have been with the Munster guys this week and none more so than Anthony Foley's family, I can't imagine what they are going through," said Pyrgos.

"From our point of view, we have tried to prepare like any other week as we would usually for any other huge game.

"I am sure it will be a really emotional game and we are expecting a big performance from Munster. It is a really sad time for everyone in the rugby family.

"As players, all we can do is focus on our individual jobs. We have had a good week of training and have prepared as we would for any other game.

"We are expecting a combative and physical performances from Munster, that is what they always bring and we will have to make sure we do that as well."

Glasgow Warriors have never managed to qualify for the knock-out stage of the European competitions before. They started this season with a resounding win of 42-13 over Leicester Tigers at Scotstoun Stadium. The 27-year-old Scotland international urged the team to maintain the momentum and break the shackles in this season.

"It was exciting to be able to open the tournament at Scotstoun, with a packed house. It was great that we went out and put in a really good performance against a quality team like Leicester.

"But we know in this competition that one good performance isn't enough.

"We are going to have to back that up week on week. There are six pool games and we have to do that consistently if we want to get through and that is what unfortunately we haven't been able to do in the past."