Glasgow Warriors can 'kick on' after rueing La Rochelle loss - Colin Gregor
- Published
Glasgow's 12-7 defeat at home to La Rochelle proved pivotal
Glasgow Warriors will rue their home loss to La Rochelle in the Champions Cup but can "kick on" from their concluding win over Sale Sharks, says BBC rugby pundit Colin Gregor.
The Pro14 side thumped their English opponents 45-7 in Manchester to finish runners-up to Exeter Chiefs in Pool 2.
But Saracens then narrowly beat Pool 4 leaders Racing 92 to take the final available place in the last eight.
"You go into Europe targeting winning your home games," Gregor said.
"Glasgow will look back on their campaign and think they only won one of theirs - drawing with Exeter was a good result, but losing to La Rochelle has really come back to bite them.
"They had an excellent win in La Rochelle and it was the very next week that La Rochelle came to Glasgow and managed to get a victory and that knocked the wind from Glasgow."
With three best runners-up joining the five pool winners in the quarter-finals, Dave Rennie's side missed out by a single point.
An indifferent first half of the season in the Pro14 leaves Glasgow sitting third in Conference A, well behind leaders Leinster and Ulster and only three points ahead of Toyota Cheetahs.
"It was a real shame for Glasgow after an emphatic victory down in Manchester against Sale on Saturday," Gregor said. "But you hope that the way they managed to dispatch Sale on Saturday, they can kick on for the rest of the season.
"They have a couple of weeks off but go with the wind in their sails after a really strong victory. You hope losing guys during the Six Nations doesn't impact too much, but they have a couple of games in February they really need to win to start gaining momentum based on some of the good attacking quality they had on Saturday night."
Edinburgh were drawn away to their pool winners, Bordeaux Begles, in the quarter-final of the second-tier Challenge Cup.
"They drew at home and lost over in Bordeaux, so it is a big challenge for Edinburgh," Gregor added.
"It will be interesting come April whether Edinburgh prioritise that or will they target the top three in the league and make sure they are in the Champions Cup of European competition next season?"