Danny Wilson identifies Glasgow issues in defeat to La Rochelle

Danny Wilson was left to rue his own side’s errors as Glasgow Warriors came up short against La Rochelle in the Heineken Champions Cup at Scotstoun.

Glasgow Warriors' Rufus McLean at full time after the defeat to La Rochelle at Scotstoun (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The French side, runners up last season, won 38-30 to leave the home side hanging on precariously to eighth place in Pool A. The top eight in each of the two groups will qualify for the last 16.

Glasgow have now completed their pool fixtures and their fate rests on two Sunday games, Montpellier v Exeter and Sale v Ospreys. Montpellier need only a point to overhaul Warriors while Ospreys would require a big bonus point win.

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow and see what it means for us moving forward,” said Wilson, whose side will drop into the Challenge Cup if they end up ninth, tenth or 11th in Pool A.

“The boys came out the second half and scored some nice tries and so on but ultimately we came up a little bit short,” said the Glasgow coach. “We gifted the opposition too much.

“There was loads of endeavour and effort from the boys but ultimately our own errors cost us tonight.

“I think the breakdown was an issue for us. We got jackalled and turned over a number of times. I thought our choice of tackles at times was poor. We went quite high against a team who can carry up the field and get momentum and it ended up with us getting stuck at the wrong end of the pitch, especially in the first half.

“The second half was better but there were huge swings from errors which gave them points.”

For the second week in a row Glasgow gave up a winning position early in the second half. Last weekend in Exeter, they collapsed in the final 30 minutes to lose 52-17. This time around they rallied late on, with two tries near the end from substitute Ollie Smith.

Josh McKay’s try had given Warriors the lead early in the second half but La Rochelle were worthy winners and crossed four times through Raymond Rhule, Pierre Boudehent, Pierre Bougarit and Paul Boudehent. Man of the match Pierre Popelin kicked 15 points and replacement fly-half Ihaia West also landed a penalty.

Ross Thompson, who set up McKay’s try, kicked 11 points for Glasgow before making way for Duncan Weir who converted Smith’s two late tries.

Don't miss out on a 30 per cent discount on an annual sports subscription. We have a special offer throughout January where you can get a reduced package. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions/sports for more details