RYAN WILSON: There's always a bit of needle when Glasgow square up to Munster... but I can't take all the blame for the rivalry between these two!

MUNSTER will be most people’s favourites to reach the URC final again but I’d give Glasgow Warriors a fighting chance of beating them in tomorrow’s semi-final.

Munster peaked at just the right time last season and did it the hard way by winning away from home in all three rounds of the play-offs.

They’ve looked strong again this season, topping the regular season table and then getting the better of Ospreys in their quarter-final on Friday night. Munster could well be the team to stop again this year, especially with home advantage.

But I wouldn’t rule out Glasgow just yet. I thought my old team looked massively impressive against the Stormers in their own last-eight tie, especially in the second half. There had been questions about their mentality and ability to cope with the pressures of knockout rugby after a few tough results but they answered all of those in style.

It could have been easy for them to have wobbled a bit when Stormers got the first try of the game but they struck back right away with a score of their own. And then when Stormers scored again, Glasgow’s response was to get over the line twice more to put the seal on a brilliant win. They had spoken before about having learned from losing the Challenge Cup final to Toulon and the URC quarter-final with Munster last season and they showed that last Saturday night.

Scotstoun would have been buzzing all this week and they’ll travel over to Limerick full of confidence off the back of that result. They should also take heart from their previous visit to Thomond Park a year ago when they won there for the first time in almost a decade.

I think I was 24th man that day running water but what a joy it was to watch the boys as they ran riot. Domingo Miotti was brilliant at 10 and the maul worked perfectly to have the boys 28-0 up at half-time. I’ve never experienced the Munster fans that quiet!

Their team came back into it in the second half and made it a much tighter finish but it was still a massive win for Glasgow and hopefully gives the boys belief that they can go there and do the same again this weekend.

Munster will be the favourites for sure but if Glasgow can get the maul working and get the passing game going then they’ll have more than a decent chance of reaching the final.

I’d take the Glasgow backline over Munster’s any day of the week and in guys like Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones you have players who can turn a match on its head. I was speaking to a few Glasgow fans this week and they’re expecting quite a decent following to make it across to Limerick so hopefully they’ll be able to make their voices heard during the match.

Munster like to pretend there’s not a rivalry with Glasgow but I think there is. I heard that Warriors defence coach Pete Murchie and Johnny Matthews were both blaming me for stoking things up between the two clubs! I can’t take all the blame but I did really enjoy those matches and there was always a bit of a needle between the players whenever we played them.

I’m not sure when it all started but beating them in the 2015 Pro12 final was obviously a big moment and then it just seemed to develop from there. Simon Zebo is my pal but he told me a few years back that a lot of the Munster guys weren’t too keen on me and I’ll take that as a compliment!

There was a big thing made a few years ago about us targeting Conor Murray’s standing leg when he was box-kicking. We were just charging down from the opposite side as they had the caterpillar ruck going but there was nothing more to it than that. But I loved all the mind games and the chat on the field and was always looking to wind up the Munster players. And they gave just as good back.

I’m heading over to cover tomorrow’s game for Premier Sports and really looking forward to it. They were even talking about putting me in with the Munster fans but I’m not so sure that’s a good idea!

Young Warriors deserve chance

Gregor Townsend has named his squad for the Scotland summer tour and it was great to see a few of the younger Glasgow lads in there and getting their chance. The likes of Max Williamson and Gregor Brown have really stood up and been counted throughout the season and deserve the opportunity now to show what they can do on the international stage.

I always expected it would be a relatively young group that Gregor takes over there but he’s added some experience too with Sione and Huw and others. Hopefully everyone gets a chance over the four Test matches to show what they can do.

Ryan Wilson is part of the Premier Sports team bringing live coverage of the big URC semi-final as Glasgow Warriors take on URC champions Munster in Limerick this Saturday. Join the Premier Sports team of Ross Harries, John Barclay, Stephen Ferris, Tom Shanklin, Ryan Wilson and Rory Hamilton live from Thomond Park from 5.15pm on Premier Sports 1. Coverage of Vodacom Bulls v Leinster is also live on Premier Sports 1 from 2.30pm. Visit www.premiersports.com for more information.

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