Champions Cup hopes in Glasgow Warriors' hands - Townsend

Glasgow warmed up for playing Munster by beating Cardiff

Glasgow Warriors' Champions Cup destiny is "still in their hands", says head coach Gregor Townsend after his side were displaced at the top of Pool One by Munster on Saturday.

The Irish side's victory over Racing 92 moved them on to 16 points, three ahead of Glasgow as the sides prepare to meet at Scotstoun on Saturday.

Speaking after Glasgow's 29-15 Pro12 victory over Cardiff Blues, Townsend said: "We've got to play Munster and Leicester now and we'll just have to play really well to beat them."

He added: "Our destiny is still in our hands."

Townsend refused to be critical of Racing's performance in the 32-7 home defeat by Munster.

With their Champions Cup campaign already over after three straight defeats - two of them to Glasgow - the French champions made several changes to their side. They were 25-0 down by half-time before offering more stern resistance after the break.

"We watched it, the coaches, and switched it off after half-time when the result was a foregone conclusion," Townsend told BBC Scotland.

"Munster played really well. Racing were out of the tournament. They chose to mix up their team and there was only one team that dominated the game.

"The tournament is what it is. You have to play the opposition you're up against. We played Racing at the beginning and that's just the way it is. We played really well to win both those games."

Peter Murchie got two tries for Glasgow in their Pro12 match on Saturday, with Pat MacArthur and James Malcolm also crossing for Townsend's men against Cardiff.

The bonus-point win took Warriors to the top four of the Pro12, and Townsend feels it sets up his team nicely for the crucial meeting with Munster.

"Munster have played really well this season," added Townsend, who will replace Vern Cotter as Scotland head coach at the end of the season.

"They came very close to beating Leicester away in the last round. They lost that in the last kick of the game and I think that's their only defeat in their last 10 games. So we know what a tough team Munster are. We've played them twice already this year.

"It does make it tough for us in that we'll have to win our last two games to qualify. This group [of players] are capable of that and what we showed [against Cardiff] through the set-piece work of the forwards and through our energy and high-tempo attack - if we can play like that we'll have a very good chance next week."