Winning a semi-final in Ireland when no-one gives them an earthly is not a new thing for Glasgow Warriors. They did it last year when they dethroned Munster as the United Rugby Championship kingpins. In doing so, they became only the second team to win in Limerick over the course of the season and they also brought to an end the hosts’ winning run, which had stretched to ten games. It was all the more satisfying because an over-zealous scoreboard operator at Thomond Park had flashed up an advert for the final on the big screen. Of course, it was Glasgow, not Munster, who made it through, winning 17-10 to set up a showdown with the Bulls in Pretoria - which they also won to lift the trophy. On Saturday, it’s Leinster who block their path to a second successive URC final and Glasgow are happy to again embrace underdog status. “You can refer to it in terms of it not being unknown territory for us,” said Nigel Carolan, the Warriors’ attack coach. “It's a path we've been down and no one gave us a chance going to Munster last year. Munster even had a billboard with the advertisement of the final. “Everyone had written us off. But if we can bring our A game, we can beat anybody. Be it Thomond Park, Pretoria or the Aviva Stadium.” In truth, Leinster represents an even tougher test than last year; they beat Glasgow 52-0 in the Champions Cup quarter-final in Dublin just eight short weeks ago. For Carolan, that’s ancient history. Not surprisingly, he prefers to focus instead on the more recent league encounter with Leinster at the Aviva when a young Glasgow side matched the home team for long periods before being edged out 13-5. Both sides’ form has dipped in recent weeks but Carolan believes Glasgow are coming to the boil again and their opponents have “scabs” that can be picked at. “The Champions Cup game is written off,” he said. “It's so long ago now. There was probably a little bit of mental scarring after that. It was evident in the few games we played after that. “I think it's fair to say that Leinster went through the same after their loss to Northampton [in the Champions Cup semi]. Both teams were trying to find ways to pick themselves up. I thought how we performed last Friday night against the Stormers was definitely a step in the right direction. It'll definitely give us some momentum for this week. “There are scabs there in Leinster. If we can pick at them, if we can bring the best version of our game physically, emotionally, and have that accuracy as well, I think we can ask some really good questions. “There's nothing like a semi-final to focus the mind. Going back to the Aviva, for us, based on our last performance there, and even the template of how we played, how physical we were, how we showed up, I think gives us a lot of confidence. “We've been here before and I think there's a standard now as well; an expectation after we've done it the hard way last year. “Albeit without a few players, I think we're still starting to build a little bit of momentum. So why not? Why can't we do it again?”