Glasgow Warriors reaction: Ending takes shine off but Franco Smith glad to have something to work on

Franco Smith, the Glasgow Warriors head coach, believes there is still plenty of room for improvement after his side booked their place in the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup.

They defeated Racing 92 29-19 at a sold-out Scotstoun to move to the top of Pool 4 ahead of the weekend matches.

Glasgow dominated for the first hour but tailed off towards the end and conceded two late tries when down to 14 men following Matt Fagerson’s yellow card for slapping the ball out of an opponent’s hands.

Glasgow Warriors' Sione Tuipulotu scores the fourth try of the match in the win over Racing 92. | SNS Group

Smith admitted the ending took some of the shine off.

“Everybody will be talking about that instead of us getting a five-point bonus win,” said the coach. “But that's alright, at this time of the season it's not a problem. Like I just said to the boys in there, we managed to beat the Bulls in [last season’s URC] final, in the last minute. So, it's not a concern, I think it's a lot of factors. So yeah, it's something we can iron out.”

Last season’s success was a masterclass in timing as Glasgow kept improving as the season wore on, culminating in their triumph at Loftus Versfeld. For Smith, the way the game ended against Racing means there is still plenty to work on.

“Look, as a player I always tried to play the perfect game,” he said. “You always want everything to happen and you want to score the most points. You don't want to give any points and you want to get every decision right. There's so many decisions that need to be made, so many moving parts.

“I love the fact that we can still improve. I think rugby in general can still go a long way. We unearth every week something different and new. The game is completely different than when I played, and I hope it will be completely different in another five years' time. I'm always looking to improve and finding different ways to get people to be better than they ever thought they were.”

Smith was understandably pleased with the way his side played in the first hour. First-half tries by George Horne, Jamie Dobie, Sebastian Cancelliere and Sione Tuiupulotu put them in the driving seat, with Racing’s only reply coming from Vinaya Habosi’s score. Rory Darge added a fifth try in the second half but some of the steam went out of Glasgow’s performance in the final quarter.

Matt Fagerson’s sin-binning left them short up front and first Lee-Marvin Mazibuko and then Tristan Tedder scored late tries for Racing. It wasn’t enough to alter the outcome and Smith was delighted his side won in front of a sold-out home crowd after the Warriors groundstaff worked hard to ensure the pitch was playable in freezing conditions.

“That was one of our motivations tonight,” said Smith. “The people that look after the pitch, the way it was prepared to make sure this game can go ahead here. We had them in the changing room.

“It’s a huge compliment to Kenny Brown [the Scotstoun groundsman] and Jim Dawson, the groundsman of Murrayfield who helped out to get this game played. It's a massive, massive compliment.

“And then, obviously, the crowd. The people that came out despite the cold, to be out there and supporting us. The last three or four minutes, the way they were chanting, is a great inspiration. We said we must repay them for that support. We are very much appreciative of them coming out tonight.”