Having been away from the club for three years Adam Hastings is ideally qualified to speak about the transformative impact Franco Smith has had on Glasgow Warriors who continue to reach new milestones under the South African coach. The Scotland stand-off rejoined the Warriors in the summer after a stint at Gloucester and has been hugely impressed by what he has seen. He watched them win the United Rugby Championship last season and helped them carve out another little bit of history on Saturday night when they thrashed Leicester Tigers 43-19 in the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup. It was the first time they had won a knockout tie in European club rugby’s elite tournament and their reward is a quarter-final against Leinster in Dublin on Friday night. “This group, the way they won the competition last year and watching that final in my house, it was exciting for me to come back into it,” said Hastings who scored one of Glasgow’s six tries in the win over Leicester at a sold-out Scotstoun. “The team has real belief, especially from last year. I noticed that coming back in: the amount of belief they have and the confidence, but also the work. This is an extremely hard-working group of boys - Franco kicks the sh** out of us Monday to Thursday! So, yeah, it's got the potential to be a pleasing competition for us, hopefully.” Hastings is under no illusions about just how tough a task Glasgow will face against Leinster who have been beaten finalists in the Champions Cup in each of the last three seasons, but believes the squad is far more resilient than it was during his first spell, citing centre Stafford McDowall as an example. “It’s the difference in the mentality of some of the boys,” said Hastings. “Like when I was here before, you look at someone like Stafford, he could barely get a game and he was almost struggling to get a contract. You look at him now, he's a voice in this team, he's a leader, a captain of the club. He’s just one example of many you could name. “It's definitely one of the most exciting back lines I've played in. And there are still boys to come back in the next couple of weeks. “I thought Tom Jordan was brilliant against Leicester. He was in my ear the whole game. Same with Stafford. And I thought our big boys were brilliant, the likes of Henco Venter and Sione Vailanu. They really set a marker for us backs.” Venter and Vailanu scored two tries each and Hastings and George Horne weighed in with one apiece as Glasgow dominated against the English visitors. Leicester took the lead in the second minute through an Olly Cracknell try but they were second best throughout despite second-half scores from Solomone Kata and Hanro Liebenberg. Hastings, who converted five of Glasgow’s six tries and also landed a penalty, knows how tough the quarter-final in Dublin will be. “Leinster are a fantastic team. They've put in some statement victories recently with the amount of points they scored but we're in a good place. There are still improvements to be made, as there always are. But I think we've got enough experience in the group now to hopefully go across and put in a pretty good performance. “These are the kind of games I came back for. They’ll probably sell out the Aviva and these are the games you want to play in as a pro. The crunch games, the bigger the occasion, the more fun it is.”