JOSH McKAY believes that Glasgow Warriors must be more ruthless if they want to become the first European team to win back-to-back matches in South Africa during the next fortnight. 

The Scotstoun men flew out the blocks against Newcastle Falcons last weekend to race into a 19-3 half-time lead, but they then took their foot off the gas in the second-half. While the outcome was never really in doubt, head coach Danny Wilson spoke afterwards about his frustration that this has become a bit of a habit for the club this season 

As they enter the business end of the season, hunting glory on two fronts – in the United Rugby Championship and the European Challenge Cup – McKay acknowledged that dropping off the pace could prove costly against top-rank opposition. 

Glasgow play the Stormers in Cape Town on Friday night, followed by the Bulls in Pretoria seven days later, and then jump right back into European action with a trip to France to take on Lyon in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup. 

“We have just to stick to our processes for the whole 80 minutes,” said McKay. “We can’t afford to score points and then switch off to let them back into the game. 

“We need to keep attacking and not take the foot off the throat, because if we score two or three tries and they score next then they think they are right back in the game.  

“But if we can get that next try and go up by three or four tries then we can really put the nail in the coffin. 

“So, maybe, we have been guilty of taking our foot off the pedal in the past. We need to smash them down to the floor and keep going. 

“The good thing is that we know we can be a lot better,” he added. “We had a good away win against Newcastle, and we are still talking about how we could put the game away by more. We are always striving for that next step.” 

McKay arrived in Glasgow in November after spells playing Super Rugby in his native New Zealand with the Highland and Crusaders, so has a fair bit of experience playing in South Africa – but he doesn’t think he can add any extra insight to the analysis the squad have already done.   

“It will be a different style of rugby – back on grass,” he said “Both South African teams will be playing hard and fast footie. 

“We are looking to stack a few more wins on the road. We are going over there to do what we can and put our best foot forward.”