Scotland forward Rob Harley believes the penchant Stirling-born Finn Russell has for shining in big games will pay off big time for Glasgow Warriors this season.

If anyone needed reminding of Russell’s skills, then they need look no further than Glasgow’s clash with Racing 92 the previous weekend.

The former Wallace High School pupil kept opposite number – and arguably the best fly-half of all-time – Dan Carter quiet as the Warriors won 23-14 at the home of the French giants.

Russell’s man-of-the-match display saw legendary fly-half turned Racing 92 coach Ronan O’Gara single him out for praise, while Warriors chief Gregor Townsend also waxed lyrical about the 24-year-old.

It was another chapter in Russell’s ever-improving career, and as Glasgow Warriors bid to make a mark in Europe and get their hands back on the Guinness Pro12 title this term, club teammate Harley is delighted to have the fly-half on his side rather than against him.

“We had that awareness that we can match up to Racing and having seen Finn play for a number of years at Scotland and at Glasgow, we know the talent that he has, the quality of player he is,” said Harley.

“He has played well in the Pro12 final, in massive games, he has done so in the Scotland jersey and I don’t think he fears playing anyone. He is always up to the challenge.

“That is right for Finn, for the whole squad it is a good benchmark to have. He has been playing at a high level for a couple of seasons now and it is games like this that make people sit up and take notice.

“Maybe more people will be hearing the name Finn Russell and seeing the kind of play that he has been capable of and hopefully keep producing going forward.”

After seeing the Pro12 crown head to Connacht last season, Harley and Russell will be doing all they can to ensure they are the ones celebrating once again come May.

And Harley is confident the Warriors have what it takes to maintain an assault on all fronts as the calendar ticks over to 2017.

“For both Europe and the Pro12 coming up, it is important to take that as our bench mark and play from there,” he added.

“We showed that we can beat any team in Europe, but we had some losses before that game in Paris and it is just playing to a high level week in week out because we know we have the quality to win against any one. It is just making sure we put those performances on the pitch.

“I think the whole squad knows that the success we have had in the league shows that we are up there and we can perform well in Europe, we just haven’t ever got out of the group stages.

“Coming into the group stages it was a major goal of ours to push on there and to achieve something we hadn’t done before.”

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