Glasgow say their goodbyes before tough trip to 'Ospreylia'

A Scot, Nikki Walker, scored that fourth try which will almost certainly mean that Glasgow finish in third place in the Magners League and miss out on a home tie in the play-offs.

Sean Lineen's team is now dependant upon their Scottish rivals Edinburgh preventing Leinster gaining so much as a single bonus point in this afternoon's match if they are to secure a home semi-final. Unless Brian O'Driscoll and his merry men suffer a nightmare of a match against Edinburgh, Glasgow will face the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on Friday evening.

In the interim, the Glasgow coach might wonder why the disciplinary panel that is investigating the Ospreys' refusal to play against Ulster a few months back did not meet further ahead of the play-offs because, if they are found guilty, one possible punishment would have included docking league points. This is the third time the Ospreys have come under scrutiny this season and on the previous two occasions they have escaped serious sanction. It is going to happen again. The panel meets on Wednesday and the Ospreys won't be kicked out of the play-offs two days ahead of their semi-final.

There are few more impressive sights in rugby than "Ospreylia" in full flow but they don't always add up to the sum of their expensive parts, which offers Glasgow a glimmer of hope. Against the Dragons they only really turned up for the second half. For the first 40 minutes the biggest spending team in Wales, who should have bested Biarritz on their home turf, looked like a pub team. Actually, they played like a pub team shortly after closing time.

They allowed the Dragons to dictate the pace of the game (slow, very slow), they made a host of handling errors and they went wide before the forwards had got them on the front foot as if tries counted double in the first half. It was very ordinary and we've seen it all before. When Glasgow played them in the league at Firhill the home team went into the half-time break 16-6 up after an insipid first-half performance from the Ospreys. Glasgow didn't score another point in the match and the Welsh side ran out easy winners after a hugely impressive second 40 in which they bossed and bullied Glasgow's forwards mercilessly.

"We learned a lot of lessons that day for when we went down there (to Swansea]," says Glasgow skipper Al Kellock, referring to the 9-9 draw that Glasgow earned in the away fixture. "Although they didn't have some of their players available that day, the Ospreys have a squad of 30 or 40 top class players. They are a good team regardless of who they put out and it'll be a tough game.

"When the backs get good, go-forward ball they are very difficult to stop. We have to match them physically as we did in the first half at Firhill and for the entire match down there. That will give our backs a better chance of dealing with their backs."

Any match now could be Glasgow's last of the season and Kellock revealed that those leaving the club were recognised for their service to Glasgow Rugby at a recent dinner that was organised by the players but included all the club staff.

"We have already had an awards ceremony of sorts, marking those who are leaving," says Kellock. "To a man they all spoke about how their leaving the club has made them even more determined to go out on a high, to prolong the season as long as possible.

"It's something we've done for the last few seasons and while we normally do it right at the end of the season we had to hold the dinner a couple of weeks before because we didn't know when we'd be finished. It was a very good night, it was a – I suppose the word is probably 'inspiring' – night by the chat from those that were leaving and others as well with the sort of attitude that is willing us to succeed."

Glasgow have done well to get into the play-offs but they may harbour some regrets of that recent game against Leinster where the spoiling tactics of the Dubliners prevented Lineen's side from getting that precious bonus point. Still, Kellock pointed out that Glasgow have achieved what they set out to achieve and they should have Max Evans and John Barclay back in harness for Friday's semi-final after both missed the Scarlets match due to niggling injuries.

What Kellock did not underline was the fact that, with several key players leaving in the summer, Dan Parks and Kelly Brown to take just two examples, Friday might be Glasgow's best chance of upsetting the league's big spenders for some time to come.