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MATT FAGERSON reckons Glasgow proved they are making progress at the highest level – even if it has not translated into an end to their knockout hoodoo.
The Warriors have still never won a knockout match in the top European tourney after losing Friday’s Champions Cup last-16 tie 28-24 to Harlequins.
But Franco Smith’s boys came agonisingly close in the clash at the Stoop, fighting back from 21- 7 down at half-time to go 24-21 up before a late try.
The Scotland forward said: “Coming back the way we did was testament to the character of the boys and what Franco has put in place.
“To come back and be in the lead, then let it slip away, was a pretty cruel ending.
“There were a few issues on our end in terms of quite a few handling errors and the penalty count.
“But we’ve come away from finals rugby before knowing we’ve not fired a shot and, in that second half, that wasn’t the case at all. We played some great rugby, some physical rugby.
“Our breakdown was a real point of difference for us and our defence was pretty solid. There is plenty to take away from the game and it was not for the want of firing shots. In years gone by, for Glasgow and Scotland, you come in at half-time with a deficit like that and think, ‘ We’ve got to start chucking it around and doing things out of the ordinary’. But we were all on the same page – we stuck to the process.
“When we go more direct, trust the process and stick to what we do, the results come and the tries come.”
The result the Warriors wanted did not come, though, which means the URC is their only focus.
Second with five regular season games to go, they have a 10-point cushion in the race for the top-four place that will mean a home quarter-final.
Fagerson said: “It’s not where you want to be.
“But looking at silver linings, we’ve got a few weeks where we can all come together and get a few extra training days in, which will lead us into the tail end of the season and the knockout games.
“If we can get the squad best prepared to come through those knockout games all guns blazing, that’s probably the biggest positive we can take from Friday night.”