WE will be hunting our first win of the Guinness Pro12 season when we take on Glasgow tomorrow afternoon – and preparation has been excellent with a little bit of help from some English rivals.

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to train against Bath at their impressive Farleigh House headquarters.

It was an unbelievable experience and was a great insight into what can be achieved by an Aviva Premiership side with a sky-high budget.

The facility resembled Hampton Court rather than a modern stereotypical sporting base and Bath leave no stone unturned when creating the ultimate professional rugby environment.

They are one of England’s top teams and, as we learnt in the Amlin Challenge Cup last season, have a formidable set piece so it was great for us to test ourselves against them.

I think both sides learnt plenty from the session and it should stand us in good stead for the game against Glasgow.

It would have been nice to be reflecting on a derby win in this column but unfortunately we suffered a major disappointment against the Ospreys.

We are confident about turning Rodney Parade into a fortress this season but cannot make as many unforced errors as we did last Friday.

A second losing bonus point of the season was little consolation and we feel as though we let you down. As usual the backing from the terraces was great and we were desperate to reward you with a win.

Mistakes are killing us at the moment and we have to eliminate them if we are to become a harder side to play against.

A major positive to take out of a massively frustrating evening was the way that our scrum was dominant against a team with a great reputation at the set piece.

And it was great to see the emergence of Angus O’Brien, who stepped up to the plate after Jason Tovey was forced off at half-time by a calf injury.

Angus was the figurehead in our second-half comeback and played with incredible composure at the key position of fly-half despite being just 19.

To end with a 10-12-13 combination of teenagers, with Jack Dixon and Tyler Morgan in midfield, is almost beyond belief. There is light at the end of the tunnel and a little bit more experience of the pressures of regional rugby will make them a real force to be reckoned with.

Jack and Tyler unfortunately suffered injuries against the Ospreys, so it’s a relief that my good friend Ashley Smith is back in training and in contention for Glasgow after six months out with a foot injury.

His communication skills and knowledge – hidden under a receding hairline – will benefit the backs massively.

We’ve been hit hard by injuries this week and we will also be without Andrew Coombs for Glasgow as well as Treviso and the Scarlets.

He’s been banned for three weeks after catching Alun Wyn Jones on the head with his boot at a ruck; it was clear that there was no malice and there isn’t any bad blood after he spoke to Mr Jones after the game.

At least Coombsy has the chance to get a few niggles sorted and I am sure the strength and conditioning team will have fun making sure his time is occupied!

We are missing a number of players for Glasgow, who are a great attacking team with threats all over the park.

But after doing the double over them last year we must have the belief that we can beat them again and get our campaign up and running.