Townsend demands an encore after Glasgow and Edinburgh make it a European double
Coach wants another note-perfect display in return against Racing
In the riotous away dressing room, Glasgow Warriors’ heroes could be heard belting out a celebratory song following their club’s best-ever result in Europe. The fans’ favourite chant of We are Warriors, we are Warriors was audible from the lobby of the Stade Olympique Yves du Manoir.
Thankfully, Sportsmail can report that this Glasgow team are far better rugby players than they are singers.
Even Gregor Townsend momentarily added his voice to the cacophony before finding it necessary to strike a more cautionary note to proceedings.
Saturday’s superb win over Dan Carter and Co has reignited his team’s dream of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions Cup for the first time in their history.
But with the return match looming at Scotstoun on Friday against a French side visibly smarting from defeat, the head coach had to bring his players quickly back down to earth.
‘We enjoyed the moment of victory, we had a wee song, but then we had a serious chat in the dressing room about our game against them at Scotstoun,’ said the man who will take over as Scotland coach next summer.
‘That win was up there among the best of my coaching career but we have done nothing yet.
‘To be fair to the boys, they realised that almost immediately. There were key points that they brought up from the game that we could improve upon.
‘Of course, coming home with four points against Racing 92 is great and a reason to celebrate straight after — but not for too long.
‘This is a unique occasion in that we play the same European opposition six days on.
‘If we can get back-to-back wins over them it would put us in a good position for our last two European games, which is why we started preparing straight after our win.’
As All Black legend Dan Carter left the stadium in silence after being overshadowed by opposite number Finn Russell, the look on his face told its own story about how badly the starstudded Paris side took this defeat.
They had assumed they could brush the visitors aside, but never came close.
Revenge will most definitely be on their minds when they come to a soldout Scotstoun for what has now become one of the most anticipated matches in the Warriors’ history.
For the song to remain the same in Glasgow on Friday, Townsend insists the preparation from his coaching team has to be spot-on.
‘Playing them back-to-back means both teams will be more knowledgeable about each other, which is why we have to make sure we are totally prepared,’ he said.
‘For instance, I thought Racing did well in their lineout defence, moved the ball really well. We defended their drive really well and did other things that helped us win the game.
‘They will come to Scotstoun with different strategies to combat us and, tactically, may have other things up their sleeve.
‘It will be an incredible game, one that will go a long way to deciding our European qualification chances.’
What Townsend’s team have to do is make sure they maintain the same high level of performance they showed in Paris.
Russell, captain Jonny Gray and flanker Simone Favaro were undoubtedly the star performers for Glasgow. There will be a huge responsibility on them to do the same again, albeit Favaro has emerged as an injury doubt after picking up a shoulder injury on Saturday.
Provided they’re all fit, Townsend will demand a similarly high-tempo display on home soil.
Gray, in particular, showed immense leadership in Paris.
never known as the most vocal of captains, that all changed against Racing 92, with the big second row very animated throughout the match as he drove his team on.
Shouting at his team-mates and waving his hands in the air when he wanted them to raise their game, it was a display that raised the prospect of him featuring for the British and Irish Lions on their tour of new Zealand.
Gray, who outplayed his former Glasgow team-mate Leone nakarawa in the line-out, also managed to steady the ship after a frenetic first ten minutes in which Racing 92 played dynamic attacking rugby.
They started superbly in an attempt to catch Glasgow cold and took the lead through a try from Argentina international Juan Imhoff, converted by Carter.
Previous Glasgow sides may well have crumbled but not this current vintage.
With Gray at the helm, they weathered the storm before turning in a battling performance to which the home side had no answer.
Russell kicked off his contribution with two penalties before the fly-half really started to turn on the magic in open play.
He was at the heart of the action, playing a superb instinctive pass on to the onrushing Alex Dunbar whose angled run split the home defence for Glasgow’s first try.
Russell’s conversion gave the visitors a narrow advantage which they held on to until half-time.
In the second half, it was all Glasgow, with Russell again revelling in his role as playmaker.
Darting all over the place, looking for holes in the opposition defence, he was held up just short after a lunge for the line.
When the ball was recycled, scrumhalf Ali Price saw a gap to dive over for a try that Russell converted.
Even Carter, who had been clobbered on several occasions by Favaro, was feeling the pressure and gave away a penalty that Stuart Hogg narrowly missed from just inside his own half.
Another Russell penalty going into the last ten minutes meant Racing 92 had no alternative but to start taking risks to try to reduce the deficit.
They flattered to deceive, with too many passes not going to hand, although praise has to also go to the Glasgow defence for standing up to be counted with some big hits from the likes of back row forward Ryan Wilson.
The only time Carter showed his usual prowess was when he evaded three tackles before stretching out to touch down, before converting his own try, but it was too little too late.
There was an indication of Glasgow’s greater desire to win when prop Alex Allan chased down flanker Wenceslas Lauret to stop a try being scored in the corner.
After Hogg kicked the ball out for the final whistle, the Glasgow players slumped to the turf in exhaustion and delight.
Up in the coaching box, Townsend embraced his no2 Matt Taylor before heading down to the dressing room to start preparations for the rematch at Scotstoun.
SCORERS: Racing 92 — Tries: Imhoff, Carter; Cons: Carter (2). Warriors — Tries: Dunbar, Price; Cons: Russell (2); Pens: Russell (3).