The 2020–21 season will see Glasgow Warriors compete in the competitions: the Guinness Pro14 and the European Rugby Champions Cup.

Glasgow Warriors had one serious outbreak of coronavirus; and that was purely through contact with an English side on the pitch, Exeter Chiefs as they played them in the Champions Cup.

[1] The pandemic had hindered recruitment for the new head coach Danny Wilson; and the impact of the coronavirus mitigation in place of no fans and the 'bubble' approach with the secondment of players, lowered expectations of what the Warriors could achieve this season, especially as most expected this to be a rebuilding season without the pandemic in the background.

However this was still Glasgow Warriors, and even on lower seasonal expectations there was still a demand that the club be competitive and provide a challenge to other top sides.

This meant that the Warriors did not challenge for the top honours in the Pro14 but had to be content in securing Champions Cup qualification for the following season.

[2] Some new signings to replace the departures have been announced but in the promotion of academy prospects like Ross Thompson, Rufus McLean, Ollie Smith and Tom Lambert, the appearance of Gregor Brown, and the arrival and impact of other new boys Cole Forbes and Rory Darge have gave the season end a much better report than would otherwise been the case.

In the end of season tournament, the Rainbow Cup, although initially stung by the Northern Hemisphere's eventual finalist Benetton Treviso in a surprise upsurge in their form, the Warriors won the next four matches in a row, securing the 1872 Cup in the process and beating this season's Pro14 winners Leinster in their last match of the tournament.

Forbes, Darge, McLean and Thompson were subsequently called up by Scotland for their summer international matches, alongside other Warriors like Kiran Macdonald, Jamie Dobie, George Horne and Kyle Steyn.

He became only the fourth Glasgow Warrior in history to do so in his debut season; and the third fastest, behind only Tommy Hayes and Dan Parks and ahead of Calvin Howarth.

Hookers Fraser Brown Mesu Dolokoto Johnny Matthews Grant Stewart George Turner Props Alex Allan Dylan Evans Zander Fagerson Oli Kebble Tom Lambert Adam Nicol Enrique Pieretto D'Arcy Rae Aki Seiuli George Thornton Locks Hamish Bain Lewis Bean Scott Cummings Richie Gray Kiran McDonald Leone Nakarawa James Scott Loose forwards Rory Darge Matt Fagerson Bruce Flockhart Chris Fusaro Thomas Gordon Rob Harley TJ Ioane Fotu Lokotui Ryan Wilson Scrum halves Jamie Dobie George Horne Sean Kennedy Ali Price Fly halves Adam Hastings Ian Keatley Ross Thompson Brandon Thomson

Centres Nick Grigg Peter Horne Sam Johnson Huw Jones Patrick Kelly Stafford McDowall Ollie Smith Kyle Steyn Back Three Glenn Bryce Lee Jones Nikola Matawalu Robbie Nairn Rufus McLean Tommy Seymour Ratu Tagive Cole Forbes These players are given a professional contract by the Scottish Rugby Academy.

Glasgow Warriors: 1 Tom Lambert, 2 Mesu Dolokoto, 3 D'Arcy Rae, 4 Hamish Bain, 5 Max Williamson, 6 Fotu Lokotui, 7 Chris Fusaro, 8 Rory Jackson, 9 Jordan Lenac, 10 Tom Jordan, 11 Robbie Nairn, 12 Stafford McDowall, 13 Harvey Elms, 14 Ollie Melville, 15 Tom Brown Replacements: 16 Angus Fraser, 17 George Thornton, 18 Adam Nicol, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Harrison Courtney, 20 Gregor Brown, 20 Connor De Bruyn, 21 Kaleem Barreto, 21 Michael Gray, 22 Brandon Thomson, 22 Lomond MacPherson, 23 Robbie McCallum, 23 Finlay Callaghan, Euan Cunningham

The Irish side edged the match; and for the Warriors Tommy Seymour became the first player to score tries in 10 consecutive seasons; and his try in Galway was his 5th opening fixture try.

Danny Wilson said: "Our work at the breakdown and collisions was a lot better than theirs I thought, and our discipline was much improved from last week for the first hour or so.

"[56] The Warriors again started well against the Ospreys with tries from Huw Jones and George Turner but failed to convert line-breaks by Nick Grigg and Grant Stewart and a poor second half saw the Welsh side capitalise on Glasgow's missed opportunities to run out winners; the Ospreys first home win in the Pro14 since February 2020.

[60] Wilson took positives from the match: "There’ll be some lessons to learn along the way, but ultimately the fact that we’ve got these young Scottish-qualified players coming through and developing with us can only be a good thing in the long run.

A clinical Ulster side was praised by Wilson but in Glasgow colours he singled out Sean Kennedy and Caleb Korteweg who both filled in at scrum-half.

The Warriors had 22 players unavailable; indeed they only had 23 full time players available to them for the match, so positionally they called in loan signings TJ Ioane and Lewis Bean, Scotland 7s international Robbie Fergusson and Super 6 Caleb Korteweg to make up the playing squad.

[65] Danny Wilson said: "We talk a lot about the fight, passion and energy we expect to see when someone pulls on a Warriors jersey and we definitely saw that from the whole team tonight.

[70] Edinburgh won a tight first leg; Wilson stating: "Obviously it’s disappointing to lose, but I thought we looked a bit more like ourselves today.

"[71] The Warriors reversed that marginal outcome in the 1872 Cup 2nd leg at home, this time running out victors in another tight match.

The way he played generally was also really pleasing, and he stood up in defence really well – Edinburgh sent big Mata at him a couple of times and he chopped him down.

A good run could see the Warriors clinch the 3rd or 4th spot and eliminate their rivals chances in the process but even that would be ranked alongside the Conference B table.

It was important that we controlled the game well in conditions like those, and Ross [Thompson] stepped up and ran the show with real maturity.

"[79] Third spot was denied the Warriors when the Ospreys pulled off a miraculous comeback to beat Leinster 24–19, when the Dublin side were winning 19–3 with a little over 20 minutes left to play.

[80] Champions Cup hopes were now very slim; and dependent on the Warriors maximising their points from their last 2 matches; together with a run of results going their way in Conference B.

[85] Head coach Danny Wilson was frustrated with the Warriors display: "We talked all week about how important our discipline was going to be against Exeter, and then we give away 10 penalties in the first half-hour.

For much of second half, Glasgow played with 14 men, after TJ Ioane was red-carded for a dangerous tackle on Montpelier's Yvan Reilhac.

[91] The Rainbow Cup was introduced this season as a precursor to inviting 4 South African Super Rugby Unlocked franchises to the Pro14 set-up.

In a year hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and no domestic rugby played in Scotland outwith the international teams and Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby, the Community Club of the Season award was replaced by a Community Hero of the Year Award, which was sponsored by SP Energy Networks.