Pro12 final: 'Struggling' Glasgow Warriors must improve

Henry Pyrgos says Glasgow Warriors have improvements to make

Henry Pyrgos concedes Glasgow Warriors have not been at their best on the way to reaching the Pro12 final in Belfast.

The scrum-half warned the Warriors need to improve in certain areas if they are going to beat Munster on Saturday.

"First and foremost would be our set-piece," Pyrgos told BBC Scotland.

"We know against the big teams it's not always going to go your way; they're great sides and that's probably why we've struggled with performances recently."

It is, however, a recurring but nonetheless poignant refrain that champions win matches when not at full flame.

And the ferocity of the Warriors' midweek sessions has been anything but lukewarm as players compete for a spot on Gregor Townsend's team sheet for Saturday's showdown with Munster.

"It's hugely competitive," said Pyrgos of the numerous battles for selection. "Every year it's got more and more competitive.

"Gregor's done really well bringing in guys from outside the group and developing guys within to really get that competition for places. It's such a squad effort to get to where we are.

"You could even see it on Tuesday at training, guys going at each other really hard. Everyone wants to be involved and put in a performance so we can go and do something special."

Henry Pyrgos and Finn Russell have impressed as a partnership in the half-backs

The 25-year-old Scotland international missed out on last season's final defeat, but has returned from a knee injury that sidelined him during the Six Nations Championship to feature heavily in this domestic run-in.

A more conventional scrum-half than maverick Fijian Niko Matawalu, Pyrgos is expected to reprise his half-back partnership with Finn Russell in Belfast after last weekend's semi-final win over Ulster.

"We speak about accuracy a lot," continued Pyrgos. "As a team, we try to play this ambitious, exciting brand of rugby, but at the same time, against the top teams, we've got to look after the ball.

"If we give Munster opportunities off turnover ball, they're very dangerous and they'll make us pay.

"Nine and 10 have got a massive part to play in where we play and how we play. We maybe didn't get the tempo of attack we wanted in that semi-final, but as an attacking side, that's what we're always looking to do, put teams under pressure, play at speed, offload and challenge them.

"Throughout the game there will be decisions that myself or (fly-halves) Finn or Duncan (Weir) will have to make and we need to get those right in the big games."