After beating Cardiff Blues, the Magners League leaders, Bernardo Stortoni, Glasgow’s Argentine full-back, has challenged his teammates to take their winning form on the road to mount a serious challenge for honours this season. Even though the Welsh side were missing almost a dozen players to the international side and injury, and lost Rhys Williams and Robert Sidoli to serious-looking injuries during the game, the Scots appeared to have rediscovered the style that took them on a winning run at the end of last season.

For Stortoni, the important thing is that having found the pattern that suites them, they do not let it slip away. “This is a good point to change,” he said. “Everybody tells me that Connacht, who we play next week, is a hard place to play, but it is another opportunity for us to play well. We have to take that chance and produce on the pitch.

“After this performance we have more confidence and I expect us to have a good week in training with everybody looking forward to playing and keep going. After that we have another hard game in the Heineken Cup against Biarritz, but we have to put everything into the next game to pick up another four or five points.”

The result leaves Glasgow sitting fifth in the Magners League and puts them back in touch with the leaders, but more importantly for Sean Lineen, the coach, the forwards put a couple of disappointing weeks behind them and dominated a Cardiff pack that started close to full strength.

Lineen was particularly delighted with another barnstorming performance from his back row, but was quick to point out that they were able to show up so well only because of the performance of the front five who laid a solid platform. Moray Low, the prop, must have come close to the man of the match award awarded to Johnnie Beattie, not only scrummaging effectively but delighting the crowd with his bullock-charges through the heart of the Cardiff defence.

The game did, however, demonstrate the stupidity of organising the international in Cardiff on the same weekend as forcing the Welsh clubs to play a full league programme. Glasgow have not been getting great crowds at Firhill but the weakened nature of the opposition must have played some role in the disappointing figure of 1,638 who turned up.

The Magners League officials are due to meet early next month to examine ways of spicing up the tournament. An end-of-season championship play-off seems inevitable, with the top four, or maybe even the top eight, playing in a knock-out format.

There is also a suggestion that Heineken Cup entry will go to the top seven teams in the league regardless of which country they come from - which would mean giving an extra team to France or England – but self-interest means that is a longer shot.

The biggest problem, though, is convincing everybody involved in the sport that all three competing countries are taking it seriously. Next week, the Welsh take time off to complete the pool stage of the EDF Cup, and a bonus-point win for Glasgow would see them catch Cardiff.