Nigel Carolan admits Glasgow Warriors must now accept opponents viewing them as a major scalp after their incredible success last season. The Warriors were crowned URC champions after defying the odds by producing a stirring second-half comeback to beat the Bulls in the final in South Africa. 

The Warriors weren’t amongst the favourites to win the title at the start of last season but their exploits mean they will be this time around. Glasgow’s title defence gets underway with a tricky trip to Ulster this weekend amid a hostile atmosphere and Carolan is under no illusions over their increased status. 

“I spoke to the lads earlier this week and I said it's hunt or be hunted,” Carolan admitted. “At the moment we're the hunted, we have the marks on our back and all that means is we've just got to make sure that our standards of how we play and how we show up - starting on Saturday -  are as high as we can possibly bring. 

“Everyone will be talking about us as well, saying ‘let's beat these champions, let's take them down’. For us it's just about maintaining our standards and again trying to hit the ground running, so bringing the right level of physicality and that emotional button that needs to be pressed. That starts on Saturday against Ulster.”

Glasgow travel to Northern Ireland for the Saturday night clash with a relatively clean-bill of health but Carolan anticipates a difficult test. 

“We haven't played in the Kingspan for a couple of years,” Carolan added. “They have a pretty lively support over there - I think they have about 14,000 season ticket holders. It's a place where you've got to really focus on your own game and not get distracted by the crowd. They're a team in transition, with a pretty new coaching team.”