TONIGHT’S game against Glasgow is a massive one for us as we attempt to hit back after defeat in Treviso last week, although some of the reaction to losing out in Italy to a good team has surprised me.

The boys had a tough travel schedule and were confident of getting the win but they knew it would not be easy – it never is over there and I think at times people disrespect Treviso and Zebre.

Clearly we were disappointed with the 27-11 score and once again we were our own worst enemy with costly mistakes at key times.

But I’ve heard some people saying that a Welsh side shouldn’t be losing to a team like Treviso and those sort of comments show a complete lack of understanding of how fierce a side they are, lots of teams from the Guinness Pro12 go there and come unstuck.

We finished above them last season so obviously we headed there with confidence about getting a first away win in quite some time in the league.

However, our record at the Stadio di Monigo was one win in six trips since they joined the Celtic League, something that highlights what a tough proposition they are on home turf.

The same applies to Zebre, who were very close to being the first team to deny Cardiff Blues a win on Saturday and were convincingly beating champions Connacht until the game was abandoned because of bad weather.

The Italian sides may not be good travellers but are always hard on their own patch.

That being said, I don’t think we got the rub of the green out there in terms of the officiating. I don’t think it reflects well on the Pro12 when there are no TMOs at certain games while the referees’ mics broke down at half-time, which didn’t exactly help things.

It looked to me that Tyler Morgan was first to the ball for their opening try that came from a chip through while I also found some other decisions baffling.

It would have been a big learning experience for Hallam Amos in his first game as captain having to endure the frustration of coming in from the wing only to be denied the chance to talk to the referee, who was Irishman John Lacey out there.

From personal experience I know how good it is to be refereed by Nigel Owens because he not only uses his common sense but he talks to the players, communicating all the time about how he is seeing things and what standards he expects of them.

You just want to know where you stand and Nigel has deservedly earned the respect of players and coaches throughout the world of rugby.

Hopefully we will keep in referee Andrew Brace’s good books against the Warriors tonight because a win would do us the power of good.

We have played well in patches this season and when doing some analysis on the other Pro12 games it was interesting to see a Munster side, who we did pretty well against, causing plenty of problems for Edinburgh in the tight.

However, we still need to show more patience when attacking in the 22 while hopefully Pat Howard can build on his good start to the season.

Pat returns after sitting out Treviso and will be looking to score more tries after his efforts against Ulster and Zebre; he has proved to be a good addition to our side and is a big presence out wide and is also a quality trainer, which is important because that drives improvement.

Glasgow have their own great finisher in Tommy Seymour, who runs hard and is on a bit of a streak like Alex Cuthbert went on a few years back, but hopefully we will cause them to have a few problems at the other end.

Attack is the best form of defence and hopefully we can score a few tries and cause an upset against a quality side.