Harley merited better farewell, insists Horne

GLASGOW scrum-half George Horne admitted this demolition job in Dublin was a horrible way for Warriors’ most capped player Rob Harley to finish up with the club. European Champions Cup runners-up Leinster ran in a dozen tries to book a United Rugby Championship semi-final against the Bulls next Friday and leave Danny Wilson’s side chewing over an embarrassing defeat. It proved to be a humbling finale for long-serving Harley, playing his 267th game for the Warriors, and Wasps-bound Kiran McDonald, with Horne confessing both men deserved a better send-off than this debacle. ‘Rob and Kiran have been two massive members of the squad over the past few years, especially Rob — he is the kind of guy who epitomises what it is to be a Warrior,’ said Horne, who scored a try off the bench to mark his first game back since suffering a knee injury in February. ‘For him and Kiran, it’s not the way we wanted to send them out. ‘As a team we didn’t perform well enough. It is great to be back but coming back into a game like that is not where we want to be.’ Yellow cards to Richie Gray and Ollie Smith proved costly as Leinster ran in three tries each time they had an extra man. Gray’s unnecessary lunge at scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park wiped out the early lead acquired through a Zander Fagerson try as Leinster took control. By the time Gray returned from the bin, Dan Sheehan, Jordan Larmour and Joe McCarthy had got over for converted tries to build a 21-7 lead after 24 minutes. Sheehan added a second try before the break and the second half turned into a canter for the champions, who crossed for another eight tries.