Townsend seeking defensive improvement from Glasgow

And with a winless Treviso highly motivated to end his side's perfect start to the season up next, Townsend insists a week of hard work in training will really be put to the test.

A 39-21 victory over Pat Lam's Connacht last weekend was the Warriors' fourth straight GUINNESS PRO12 win, although it was hardly an error-free performance from last season's losing finalists.

A trip to the Stadio Monigo on Sunday to face a Treviso side without a win this season at first glance may look like a glorious opportunity for Glasgow to make it five from five.

But Townsend believes their Italian opposition possess the ability to punish his side if they were to produce a repeat of last weekend's performance.

"Treviso have traditionally been a very tough nut to crack on home soil at the Stadio Monigo and the one thing you can always guarantee is that they will present a formidable challenge in terms of our set-piece," Townsend said in his column for The Scotsman.

"Over the past few seasons, Treviso have been one of the most innovative teams in Europe, especially in terms of plays from lineout.

"Having watched their early season games, they have already used a few excellent lineout moves, and our defence will have to be switched on throughout the game to prevent any line-breaks.

"Defensively at Glasgow we pride ourselves on our ability as a side to be very hard to penetrate and breakdown but against Connacht we were not up to the standards we have set ourselves in that respect.

"The players have been very focused at improving this aspect of our game on Sunday and tackled strongly at training this week."

Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to ourYouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12