The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Gloucester urged to keep hopes of joining European elite alive
Scotland centre Matt Scott has urged Gloucester to seize the moment when they target European Challenge Cup final success at Murrayfield tonight.
Victory for Gloucester over Stade Francais would give them a recordequalling third Challenge Cup triumph and keep alive hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions Cup.
If Gloucester topple Stade, they will go into the Champions Cup qualification play-offs later this month, needing two more victories to rejoin the European elite.
And Gloucester star Scott, whose last Murrayfield experience was a tryscoring one for Scotland against Italy during this season’s RBS 6 Nations Championship, knows the stakes are high.
“We didn’t achieve Champions Cup qualification in the Premiership, but we have this game as a last chance to get into the Champions Cup (play-offs),” Scott said.
“It has been a long, hard shift this season, but we have got to say we have got two or three more weeks to salvage something tangible from our season.
“The chance to win silverware doesn’t come around very often in professional sport.
“There are lots of fantastic players who have not won silverware in their careers – that’s the way it happens.
“We have got to grasp this opportunity with both hands and we’ve got the added incentive of trying to secure top European rugby at Kingsholm next season.
“We’ve fallen off at the end of games for whatever reason this season and it has been infuriating.
“We have beaten some of the best teams in the league this season, but against the middle teams vying for that top-six slot, we didn’t do so well.”
For Parisians Stade, the final presents an opportunity for silverware following a turbulent campaign that was overshadowed by a potential and controversial merger between themselves and Racing 92, which was then scrapped.
“We are very motivated,” Stade skipper Sergio Parisse said.
“This season has been very difficult, but we must not forget the journey that we made to qualify for this final. We deserve to be here.
“We remained solid and united through adversity this season. There was a questioning of everyone.
“Maybe our level of motivation was a bit flat, but we did not let go. No matter what happens, it will be the craziest season I’ve had at Stade Francais.”