Glasgow have been reflecting on their painful Champions Cup loss to Leinster. Image: © Craig Watson

PETE MURCHIE says Glasgow can’t afford to allow their heavy Champions Cup loss to Leinster to define their season.

Murchie concedes a combination of Leinster’s attacking brilliance and poor Warriors defence contributed to the quarter-final shellacking at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night.

A forensic review of the 52-0 defeat has been taking place at Scotstoun over the last few days with defence coach Murchie leading the analysis of how Leinster were able to run out such comfortable winners.

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Few teams in the world can live with the province in this form but Murchie also acknowledged there were areas in which Glasgow could have performed a lot better, especially in the period when they lost Adam Hastings to a yellow card.

And with Franco Smith’s side still to return to Dublin to play Leinster at least once – and possibly twice – before the season is over, Murchie knows lessons need to be learned.

“You have to give Leinster credit for the performance they put out,” he said. “They were able to build a lead in that yellow card period in particular, and they applied a lot of pressure in all areas of the game, through their attack and through their defence.

“But at the same time, we feel we didn’t put out our best performance, in terms of how we structured the game, how we defended, how we attacked. Areas of our game didn’t function the way we’d like them to. Some of that is because of the pressure they applied. But when we reflect, there are a number of things we could have been better at.

“That yellow card period was costly. We lost 19 points in that period. That allowed them to grow in the game and defensively they kept coming. When you’ve got that lead, you can take more risk, so it becomes a loop: the more you get ahead, the less you’ve got to lose, on both sides of the ball, so they can fly harder, they can start running from their own 22 and it really suits the way they play the game. So we can definitely be better in lots of areas of the game.

“I think it’s about being specific. When you’re under the pressure that we were, it can take a toll in terms of the way you act and move and how you deal with things. You need to break it down and be specific, say, ‘right, this was the situation, we had a yellow card, this is how we look, this is how we’re acting, what’s our process to deal with this and where are we doing it?’ And quite often the case is that we weren’t.

“Some of that is actual stress in terms of the stress we were under and some of that can be perceived stress with the scoreboard. If it’s everything, it’s pretty hard to compartmentalise that, but there’s some real specifics there that we can improve and try now.

“You don’t want to brush it under the carpet, but you can’t let it bog you down. We’ve learned lessons, some pretty harsh ones, and now we crack into the week.”

While that pragmatic self-reflection is obviously necessary, it doesn’t help to erase the pain felt by the Glasgow players who went into the tie with such high hopes only to see their confidence punctured so brutally. Murchie, though, believes that some mental suffering is necessary.

“Naturally it hurts,” he added. “It was a Champions Cup quarter-final and the scoreline obviously hurts. I’d be a bit concerned if the guys weren’t feeling it, as we all are, off the back of that. But then you quickly flip it around to how you use it.

“We know we’re going to have to play Leinster again in the Aviva, so straight away that focuses the mind. And we’re back into action this weekend, in a different competition and a competition where we’ve got it all to play for [away to Zebre in the URC].

“The mindset is now switching around to looking at what the lessons are. When you break it down and you take the emotion out of it, there are some pretty obvious lessons there for us. Ones where as you get into these knockout games, we’re going to have to be better. That’s definitely my mindset: do we flip this and actually get something from what is obviously a pretty tough loss?”

Murchie expects to see a reaction from the players as they head to Parma to play a Zebre side fresh from three weeks off and enjoying one of their best seasons of recent times.

“When you have a tough experience like that, of course you want to have a reaction. It’ll be a difficult game – they’ve had three weeks of prep for us, they haven’t played Europe. I’m sure they’ll have a clean bill of health and it’s a tough place to go.

“They’ve turned over quite a few teams, as we know, close to home [winning 22-17 in Edinburgh] and had some successes on the road. The league is so tight that where they are in the league maybe doesn’t reflect how many wins they’ve got this season.

“But it’s an opportunity for us to turn the page, refocus and put down a stamp for where we want to go in the big few weeks. So we do have to move on.”

Zander Fagerson should return from his concussion protocol and Josh McKay is available for selection once again after recovering from ankle surgery. But Saturday night is still too soon for the likes of Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones and Jack Dempsey.

“The others are getting closer, but they’re not going to be [involved] this weekend,” confirmed Murchie. “Sione’s been back on the pitch. Demmo, we’re still waiting on that one, but he’s working hard on his rehab. They are getting closer, but not [for] this week.”

There was good news, of sorts, on Matt Fagerson who doesn’t appear to have broken his leg as first feared in Dublin on Friday night.

“Fingers crossed, it’s maybe not the break that we thought it might be at the time, but we’re still waiting for the scan to be specific on what the actual damage is there. At this moment in time, yes, there is a chance he could play again [this season], but until we actually know what we’re dealing with, then I’d be speculating.”

Warriors have been linked with a summer move for Racing fly-half Dan Lancaster to replace the departing Tom Jordan but Murchie doesn’t see it happening.

“I don’t think there’s anything in that. I think it’s probably a case of people putting two and two together. It’s obvious with TJ moving on that there could be a spot there. But there’s nothing in that one. I’m sure it’s something the club are looking at. But you want the right person, it has to be the right fit.”

 

 

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