If Glasgow Warriors’ away form has been a concern this season then at least they don’t have too far to travel in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup.
Results at the weekend mean Danny Wilson’s side face a trip to Tyneside to face Newcastle Falcons this Friday, with a quarter-final tie against either Lyon or Worcester the prize for the winners.
Dropping down from the Champions Cup after finishing ninth in their pool, Glasgow were always going to have to play away in the Challenge Cup and, Edinburgh aside, Newcastle is the shortest journey they could have made.
The sides met in pre-season, with the Falcons winning 15-7 in a closely contested game at Scotstoun thanks to a last-gasp try from George Wacokecoke, their Fijian-born wing/centre.
Wilson, the Glasgow coach, won’t read too much into that game. His chief concern is improving his team’s away form which has seen them win just two from eight on their travels this season.
“We respect how dangerous a side they can be, they have proved that several times,” Wilson said of Newcastle. “We have shown we are a bit patchy on the road so that’s definitely a challenge. We need to close out the latter stages of games better.”
Glasgow’s last away game saw them squander a 28-15 lead over Cardiff Blues in a match they ended up losing 32-28. It was a bruising experience but the Warriors bounced back with a comprehensive 40-12 home win over Zebre.
Newcastle faced the Italian side in their final Challenge Cup pool match at the weekend and struggled to put them away, eventually winning 25-22 after Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti’s 80th minute try.
They had been far more impressive the previous weekend, thrashing a Worcester Warriors side containing Duhan van der Merwe and Rory Sutherland 45-10 at
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