GLASGOW Warriors hooker Fraser Brown last night sent out a warning to his team’s rivals: you haven’t seen the best of us yet.

A run of nine wins has taken the champions to the top of the PRO12 table, guaranteeing them a place in the play-offs even before tomorrow’s final league game in Connacht. They have played some inspired rugby along the way - but Brown is sure they have yet to put in a complete display.

“I still think we haven't really put together an 80-minute performance,” he said. “I know we played well down at Scarlets [when they won 46-10 last month], but there are a lot of things we can improve on from that game. You never play the perfect game of rugby, so that's something we are still striving to do.

“Specifically, there have been times in our attack when we’ve lost easy balls. Or we have a five-minute lapse in defence and it gives the opposition easy inroads. Those are things we have to tighten up and try to improve, especially this weekend and hopefully for the next couple of weekends.”

Earlier this week, scrum-half Mike Blair declared that retaining the title will be more difficult than winning it last year was, and Brown agreed. He has seen opponents raise their game against the Warriors in a way they did not last season, and is also sure that the squad expect more of themselves this time round.

“Other teams respect you a bit more so they adapt their tactics, which they might not have done before. Definitely there are new challenges.

“With teams you come up against you’ve got targets on your backs. They either want to beat you because you’re the champions, or they want to make sure you don't get there again, especially at this end of the season.

“There's more pressure put on by ourselves as well. Last year was a brilliant year, but we have to raise and lift our standards again. But we don't really think back what we did last year because we've got a new goal and that hopefully to get the final in three weeks’ time.”

Getting to that final at Murrayfield on May 28 should become that bit easier for the Warriors if they win or draw against Connacht, because that will ensure they get a home semi-final against one of the two teams below them in the top four. But if they lose they could come third and be forced to play their semi away from home - especially as Leinster have a home game against Benetton Treviso, a match which should give them five points and take them above the Warriors’ current total.

No PRO12 team has ever won on the road at the semi-final stage of the competition. That is why the squad are treating this match as more like a knockout than just another league game.

“The mindset is obviously slightly different this week,” Brown added. “It's almost more like a quarter-final for us, because we’re hoping we can come back here and have a home semi-final.”

Head coach Gregor Townsend will announce the team to play Connacht today, before the squad set off for the west of Ireland. All the key players who were rested against Zebre last week are expected to be included.