The Warriors coach describes their 19-9 defeat by Glasgow Rugby in the first round of the Celtic Cup back in September as “a bad day at the office for everyone and, having lost to them in that game, that puts an extra edge on this match.
“We will have to be more physical on Friday because in the cup they outmuscled us and our ball retention and turnovers were the worst by any side I have been involved with – basically we did not turn up.
“It makes this a big, big game for us, particularly in light of us losing by a point at Munster. We dominated up front, had the far better set pieces and broke them behind.
“However, we ended up with an 18-7 penalty count against us and it is the type of result you have to put firmly behind you if you don’t want to get too morose.”
The Warriors now have 19 squad members not available for selection for a variety of reasons, centre Jon Bryant tearing a calf muscle in the warm-up at Thomond Park.
“Jon will be out for about three weeks, though Leigh Thomas from our academy came in against Munster and did really well,” said Howells.
“Dafydd James had a run-out with Bridgend last week but we did not want to risk him last weekend as his shoulder is still tender and we will see what the reports on him are like during the week.
“However, Maama Molitika did get in 20 minutes against Munster and having him back in the selection mix is a big bonus.”
