A FIVE-YEAR period of unprecedented success for Glasgow Warriors comes to an end today when Gregor Townsend takes charge of the team for the last time in the 1872 Cup match against Edinburgh. Or, more accurately, Townsend’s involvement comes to an end: the man himself is convinced that there is no reason for the success to end, and that, while he is moving on to replace Vern Cotter as Scotland coach, the squad he leaves behind are well placed to keep on getting better in the seasons to come.

The 2015 PRO12 title was the obvious highlight of the former Scotland stand-off’s time at the helm, and in the two seasons since the Warriors have not hit those heights again in the league, having been knocked out at the semi-final stage last season and failed to qualify for the play-offs in this campaign. But they did hint at some unrealised potential by reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup this season for the first time, even if they lost convincingly to Saracens at that stage of the competition, and Townsend thinks that even the underachievements of this season will help the squad learn to perform better under new coach Dave Rennie.

“The disappointments of this season and the learnings that we had will add or improve the team for next year,” Townsend said yesterday after naming his team for the home cup game, which the Warriors go into with a 25-12 lead from the first leg back on Boxing Day. “Because we had a few injuries prior to November, the fact we had so many players away at the Six Nations has enabled players like Nick Grigg and Scott Cummings to play against Leinster and Munster, to play at tough environments like Ravenhill and the Liberty Stadium, and perform well and thrive in those arenas.

“The coaching staff coming in, spearheaded by Dave Rennie, is a real strong fit from what works here – strong culture, hard-working players and a real skill-and-attack focus. I’m looking forward to seeing how they play and I know they’re going to improve and get better

“The other thing was finally making the breakthrough in Europe. Although the quarter-final didn’t go the way we wanted it to, we got there and the players have that experience. Next time they’ll be working hard to get beyond the quarter-final. They’ve had those lessons and know why things didn’t work down at Saracens.

“We lost a PRO12 final and then went and won it. It’s been a valuable learning year with a lot of positives, and it would be great to finish with a win and a trophy.”

Townsend’s record with the Warriors speaks for itself, and players such as Peter Horne have explained this week how much the coach has improved them as individuals and as a team. Horne recalled that improvement being evident from the first few training pre-season training sessions, and then becoming blindingly obvious in the opening games of the 2012-13 season, when the team started becoming far more dangerous in attack.

But Townsend insisted that such a rapid improvement spoke volumes about the players’ willingness and ability to learn, and said it was clear when he arrived at Scotstoun that the team was going places. “I always thought there was great potential here, and already there were a lot of good things happening,” he explained. “The team had a really good defensive record the season before, which proved how hard they worked for each other. It was a solid base.

“What we tried to do was look to attack whenever the players felt there was an opportunity. The way the players responded and took that on was way ahead of what I expected that year, the first year – the amount of tries we scored was hard to believe, but that showed the ability of rugby players we had then and still have now.

“Today [the day before a game] is a day I love coaching, because the players set their goals, they discuss how they’re going to play, and they run the session. Tomorrow it will be them that win the game.”

Townsend will not be the only one saying goodbye to the Warriors fans – several of the players are also on the move, including Gordon Reid from the starting line-up and Sila Puafisi and Sean Lamont from the substitutes. Lamont, who has over 100 Scotland caps and more than 100 appearances for Glasgow, will hope to come off the bench for his final appearance before hanging up his boots at the age of 36.

With that 13-point lead from the Murrayfield leg, the Warriors will be favourites to win the cup back after two years, but this match will be about more than a piece of silverware – and indeed, more than a chance for the fans to say farewell to some favourites. Townsend will announce his Scotland squad for the summer tour on Monday, and admitted that a few places were still there to be played for.

“I’ll have time to watch the game on Sunday afternoon a couple of times and see how players perform,” he said. “We’ve obviously been focusing on Glasgow, but we have been watching all the players over the last few weeks. There’s still a few close decisions and it might be that something happens in this game that persuades us to choose someone over someone else.

“It’s the final game of the season, so it’s always an interesting one for everybody. Playing at Scotstoun is a bonus, it’s important, we’ve got players in the squad that are leaving, and players that are leaving that are either injured or not selected, so it’s going to be emotional for them.

“I think the final days of the season show the club in its best light: the reaction to the people who are leaving, the numbers that are coming to this game and will be there after the game. I think to have an 1872 Cup game against Edinburgh to end the season is great, so it’s a game we’re all looking forward to. In different circumstances, because we’ve not made the play-offs, it might have been a game we wouldn’t be looking forward to as much.”

Glasgow would far rather have made the play-offs, of course, or at least gone into this match knowing that a bonus-point win might be enough to put them into the top four. But at least, now that the game is a contest in its own right and not a stepping stone to something else, they can concentrate on throwing everything into it and ensure that Townsend leaves on a winning note.