Glasgow Warriors v Ulster | Match Preview

Glasgow’s first home game of the new season brings familiar visitors. No opposition side has played more frequently at Scotstoun than Ulster, with this set to be their 14th match at this venue, the same number as Edinburgh.

The Warriors share plenty of history and memorable moments with their long-time rivals from Belfast.

History of matches at Scotstoun

Ulster’s 13 previous visits to the West End of Glasgow have produced mixed results.

They are one of only four opposition teams to have recorded three or more victories, but they have also lost 10 times – including two huge league playoff semi-finals.

The first clash between these sides at Scotstoun during the professional era came way back in 1997 in the Heineken Cup.

Tommy Hayes was the hero that day, contributing 17 of his side’s 30 points in a comfortable win.

Fifteen years (and one week) later, Ulster had their revenge, taking the bragging rights in the Warriors’ first outing in the same competition at their new permanent home during the 2012/13 season.

Since then, Glasgow have dominated the fixture, although Ulster can at least point to narrow victories in 2016/17 and 2020/21, the latter being secured in an empty stadium.

The Warriors have come out on top in the other nine games though. It’s a long way from the Hughenden and Firhill eras when the home win rate against Ulster was just 42%.

The standout encounters from that sequence are, of course, the PRO12 semi-final in 2014/15 and the PRO14 semi-final in 2018/19.

The former was a tense affair, with Glasgow having to grind out a result when things hadn’t quite clicked for much of the 80 minutes.

The latter was a party atmosphere from kick-off to final whistle, as the Warriors racked up 50 points and a 30-point winning margin – both records in games versus Ulster.

Standout stat

Tommy Seymour scored a remarkable seven tries for Glasgow against Ulster in matches at Scotstoun. No-one else has managed more than two for the Warriors in these fixtures.

The Scotland winger originally joined the Warriors from Ulster and clearly enjoyed facing his former club.

Between February 2013 and May 2019, Seymour scored tries in six of the eight matches he played against the side from Belfast.

It could have been seven of eight, but arguably the most famous try in Warriors’ history was instead scored by DTH van der Merwe in May 2015.

He had only filled the right wing berth nine minutes earlier when he replaced Seymour, who might otherwise have been the one to take Finn Russell’s incredible pass.

Last time out

Nearly three years have elapsed since Ulster were most recently in town – a far cry from the PRO12 and Celtic League eras, when the side from Belfast were annual visitors.

From a Warriors’ perspective, that previous occasion was a memorable one, but they did have to overcome a dreadful start that saw them fall behind 0 – 14 with just 11 minutes on the clock.

The fight back started with the 500th try scored by the club at their current home ground (the total tally now stands at 654).

That milestone five-pointer came from an unlikely source – veteran scrum half Sean Kennedy, who was making his first start with fans in attendance at Scotstoun since November 2012.

He celebrated by notching the only try that he ever scored in front of a crowd at Glasgow’s home stadium.

Johnny Matthews was also on the scoresheet, with his 20th try at this venue – a feat matched only by Niko Matawalu and Tommy Seymour at that point, and later by George Horne.

With Matthews crossing for a second, added to tries from George Turner and Kyle Rowe, the final score ended up as 33 – 20, the biggest points tally at Scotstoun against Ulster outwith the PRO14 semi-final.

The result was Glasgow’s 19^th consecutive home regular season URC win – the longest such streak in the club’s history at that point.

It was a run that eventually stretched to 28 before it was ended by a last minute penalty in a game against the Ospreys in March 2025.

To ultimately come out with a thumping win over Ulster after that awful opening quarter spoke to the high standards and resilient mentality instilled in the team by head coach, Franco Smith.

Those qualities will be called upon once again this weekend as they tackle an Ulster side who will be desperate to bounce back from their opening day defeat at home by Edinburgh.

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