IT WAS the biggest match of Glasgow Warriors’ season, and had they won it would have been arguably their greatest ever result, outdoing even the PRO12 final victory over Munster two years ago. Instead, it ended in frustration and anti-climax, as Saracens rarely looked in real trouble on their way to winning the Champions Cup quarter-final 38-13.
The defending champions put in the type of thoroughly professional performance that we have come to expect of them, leaving the Warriors players to reflect on how far they have to go before they can compete on something like even terms at this rarefied level. “Saracens controlled most of the game and put us under a lot of pressure,” Glasgow joint-captain Henry Pyrgos admitted. “We showed character by staying in the game for 60 minutes, but we didn’t get into our game and that was credit to Saracens.
“They shut us down and that’s what they do. We’re frustrated that we didn’t do more in attack, it’s disappointing that we’re out, but there’s a lot we can learn from this. It’s the first time for us in the knock-out stage of this competition and we’ll look at what we did wrong.”
It took Glasgow years of steady building on their route to winning the PRO12, with semi-final defeats preceding a loss in the final itself before that win in 2015. They had hoped that the greater experience gleaned by the squad since then would come to the fore in this, their first European quarter-final, but, while they have matured, other teams have not exactly been standing still.
“We don’t want to be exactly like Saracens, but we want to be where they are,” Pyrgos went on. “They’re the champions for a reason and they showed us exactly why they are.
“We want to kick on and we want to be in finals and semi-finals. There’s nothing like being in Europe and we saw today why it’s so special. The crowd were unbelievable and we came out and saw all of the Glasgow flags: it was a brilliant atmosphere and we want to get better and better as a club.
“We felt we had the players and the know-how to get this job done, but they’re the champions and showed us why they’re so good. It’s tough to take, and there’s a lot of learning we can take from this and add to our game.
“There’s a huge amount of growing still to be done in this squad. We have a great squad of players, we have a depth in the squad, and we need to do it consistently.”
That lack of consistency was perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the match for Glasgow and their supporters. At their best, they can be so much better - although, while some of the mistakes could be classed as unforced, a lot of what went wrong was down to the pressure put on them by Saracens.
“There was pain, but when you’re playing against the best sides that’s what can happen,” Pyrgos added. “We need to take it on the chin, even if it’s tough to take.”
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