Saturday’s 15-point loss to Edinburgh consigned Glasgow Warriors to only a second season outside the Pro14 play-offs in nine years.

BBC Scotland has spoken to former full-back Ruaridh Jackson, who left the club over the summer, and believes they face a “tough” transition season.

What’s changed?

It has been a challenging 15 months for Glasgow since they came close to beating Leinster in the Pro14 final at Celtic Park. So much emotional energy went into trying to win the title on home soil, in what was talisman Stuart Hogg’s last game after seven years at the club.

The anti-climax that followed may have impacted the next campaign, and a slow start left them with a fight on their hands to reach the play-offs.

Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit, head coach Dave Rennie left for the Australia job, and the financial challenges it brought has left Wilson unable to replace senior players such as Jonny Gray, co-captain Callum Gibbins, and Jackson, in sufficient numbers as he would like.

The lack of depth is illustrated by Scotland centre Huw Jones being used at full-back to compensate for a lack of a senior 15, and Edinburgh’s bench made an impact to score 17 unanswered points in their 30-15 win against Warriors at Murrayfield on Saturday.

“Danny’s not really been able to get the signings in he probably wanted, so next year could be a tough year, blooding a lot of young players,” Jackson, who retired during the shutdown, told BBC Scotland.

“You look at the exits, it’s a core group of older, more experienced players, so a lot of young guys are going to have to step up.

“Hopefully some investment comes Glasgow’s way because they certainly need to add a few numbers in key positions to their squad.”

Time to lower expectations?

Glasgow have been one of the Pro14’s most consistent sides for the last decade, building from three-figure crowds to regularly selling out the 7,000-capacity Scotstoun.

With that, comes expectation to be in play-off contention. But the reality just now means that ambition may not be as realistic as in recent years.

“In some respects I think lowering expectations might be needed this year,” Jackson said. “It could be what we need to regenerate a bit of youth and freshness into the squad, then in the second and third season we can bounce back.

“There’s enough talent in there to keep pushing up the top of the table, it’s just whether we can get that consistency throughout the season.”

Has the balance of power switched?

The frustrations at Glasgow have been put into sharp focus because of the success of Edinburgh. The capital club have clinched Conference B and secured a home semi-final spot for the first time.

The mastermind behind their success, head coach Richard Cockerill, has signed a new deal to 2023 and has assembled a formidable and settled squad. So are the tables turning?

“Yes I think so,” Jackson says. “They’ve been slowly trying to catch up with us and I think they’re probably edging it now – it pains me to say it a little bit.

“They’ve built really smartly, they’ve created a game plan that suits them, they’re playing well, they’re coherent they’ve got a fairly settled squad. They’ve really got that stability to take that next step up.”

Encouragement for the future?

Wilson has already made it clear that Glasgow’s younger players will get the chance to play regularly during the extended international periods, when Warriors could lose around 15 players.

Jackson name-checks Stafford McDowall – who will start at centre against Edinburgh – scrum-half Jamie Dobie, centre Ollie Smith, and full-back Rufus McLean as players who can make an impact.

“There will still be guys pushing standards there, I think the fitness and the training will still be up there, I just think it’s a big transition,” added Jackson.

“The likes of Adam Hastings, maybe Ali Price and George Horne, who are now two or three seasons deep, it’s now time for them to step up and take that leadership on and take the team forward again.

“It will be a really tough year, but I remember when we were younger we went through some pretty tough years, and it’s a really good chance to character build and test yourselves.

“Hopefully they forge their own path and fight for titles again. Because you certainly don’t want to see the hard work of the last decade fade away.”