It wouldn’t have felt that way at the time but the knee injury sustained by Rory Darge late last year might prove to be something of a blessing in disguise.
The Glasgow flanker spent six weeks resting and recuperating before returning for Scotland’s Six Nations clash with France in February.
READ MORE: Inside Rory Darge's rise to Scotland star as he overcomes setbacks
That lay-off allowed him a bit of a mid-season breather, giving him the unforeseen chance to recharge the batteries for the remainder of the campaign.
How vital that could be as Franco Smith’s side prepare to take on Munster on Saturday night in their United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final with designs on making it to the final.
“That’s the way I like to look at it,” said Darge about the restorative benefits of that time away from the first team.
“You never want to be injured but when you are you try to look at the positives and I think that is one positive you can take from it. You are not putting your body through Test matches or Test match-like games you sometimes get in the URC now.
“What Franco [Smith] does really well here is manage the whole squad. He doesn’t go with the same 23 each week, so I think we’ve made use of pretty much everyone in the squad, and I think everyone is feeling fresh and ready to go.
“Munster are a great team who always seem to come good at this time of the season, so they are really firing now.
"It is going to be a massive challenge – it doesn’t really get much harder than the champions away in a semi – a great club with a lot of history who know how to win knock-out games – but we’re in the semis for a reason and we believe in ourselves so we are excited about the challenge ahead.”
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Away from home against the defending champions, few will give Glasgow a chance of emerging from Thomond Park with a win.
They will be buoyed on two fronts, however. One is the way in which they rallied to seal a comprehensive quarter-final victory over the Stormers last weekend, while the other is the memory of their last trip to Limerick in March 2023 when they ran in 28 unanswered points in the first half to set up a famous win and stun the normally vocal Munster crowd.
“Look, we’re down to the last four teams and every team’s a good team,” argued Darge. “I think all four will believe in themselves and believe they can go all the way and will desperately want to do that.
“It’s exciting, for sure, to be at this stage. Last year Munster came over here and knocked us out in the quarters and we were gutted after that so to still be in the mix, in the last four, we’re buzzing.
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“I think what was most impressive about [the win over the Stormers] was probably just the growth in terms of it being a pressure game and the way we managed it.
“We have shown at times in these big games how good we can be with ball in hand, but I think a lot of that game on Saturday was about our defence, our game-management and wee George [Horne] kicking his threes.
"I thought it was an outstanding performance, so we’re just going to look at some minor adjustments and look at what Munster’s threats are, then just try to keep the performance as good as we can.”
The clock is ticking on the careers of some long-established Warriors veterans. George Turner, Oli Kebble and Ross Thompson said goodbye to the Scotstoun crowd last weekend and head to Munster knowing this could well be their final appearances for the club.
Darge, though, hopes they can send them off on a high by going all the way and winning the title.
READ MORE: Oli Kebble wants to leave Glasgow on a high after URC glory
“It must be a weird feeling for those guys,” he added.
“When I left Edinburgh I hadn’t really played for the club and even then I remember feeling it was quite strange.
"So, I can imagine it will be a strange feeling for a player having your last game at Scotstoun when you are someone like George who has had over 100 games for this club. Rossco and Kebble as well are guys who have given so much to the club.
“I remember the first season after I arrived under Danny Wilson and there were 22 or 23 leavers that year. So it’s not quite the turnaround we had back then, but you are sad to see these guys go. That year with 22 guys leaving – Adam Hastings, Niko Matawalu and people like that – we really wanted to give them a good send-off.
“I think the last game was Leinster at home and we got a good win for them in the Rainbow Cup, so it is something you are desperate to do for guys, especially with the leavers we’ve got this year being guys who have given a serious amount to the club.”
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