RICHIE VERNON says he never doubted that Glasgow could perform a Christmas miracle comeback against Munster.

Trailing 18-9 at half-time on Saturday to the team sitting top of the Guinness PRO12, Gregor Townsend's men roared back into the game after the break with tries from Leone Nakawara and Jonny Gray helping the Scotstoun side over the line.

It meant Warriors jumped above the Irish cracks into first place ahead of their 1872 Cup head-to-heads with Edinburgh over the next two weeks.

And while Glasgow ace Vernon concedes the home side didn't help themselves at points during the mesmerising encounter, he admits he always believed a victory was within their grasp.

The 27-year-old said: "It was a really tough win against a really tough team.

"We made things hard for ourselves at times, especially a bit in the first half, but you are going to have fazes of the game against a team like Munster where it's going to be difficult.

"I'm really proud of the guys, we came back well and we executed things really well in the second half. It's a great win for us to take into the two Edinburgh derbies.

"We always had confidence. We've got a lot of it in this group of players.

"Maybe a bit of that has been knocked in the last two games against Toulouse. It just took us a while to get into our rhythm again and when we started playing our rugby we opened up and got the points that we needed."

Much of the praise given at the weekend was flowing towards Glasgow hero Gray.

It was his score with just under 10 minutes left which secured a famous victory for Warriors to have them top of the table over Christmas.

And the Scotland international also told GlasgowWarriorsTV: "Everyone is delighted.

"We knew how hard it was going to be against a tough Munster side who have been playing well in Europe.

"Munster came out firing in the first half and they made it very difficult for us. So we knew we had to do better after the break."

Meanwhile, Warriors scrum-half Niko Matawalu is set to join Bath next season.

The Fijian will call time on his three-year spell in Glasgow when his contract expires in the summer.

Matawalu said: "I've really enjoyed my time in Glasgow and I'd like to thank the Warriors for this opportunity.

"I'm looking forward to playing for the club and in front of the supporters until the end of the season.

"The club and Scottish Rugby made me a very good offer, which made it a difficult decision to leave, but I was ready for a new challenge."