Glasgow Warriors reaction: Franco Smith’s pride at unprecedented feat

Smith’s side beat Saracens 28-3 at Scotstoun on Sunday to finish top of Pool 1 and will now host the Bulls in the round of 16 on the first weekend of April.

Bordeaux-Begles and Glasgow are the only teams in this season’s competition to take the maximum 20 points from their four group games and their reward is the first and second seedings, respectively, which means both clubs have home advantage for as long as they last in the knockout phase, up to and including the semi-finals.

If Glasgow can overcome the Bulls they will face either Toulon or the Stormers in the quarter-finals. The Warriors have never progressed beyond the last eight in the Champions Cup but now have the best opportunity in their history to do so.

If they were to make the semi-finals their opponents would come from the bottom quarter of the draw where Leinster host Edinburgh and Harlequins take on Sale Sharks in the last 16, and would likely be played at Murrayfield.

Closest to Test-match rugby

“I'm really proud, the fact that we stuck to it till the end,” said Smith, after Seb Stephen scored the bonus-point clinching try in the 82nd minute.

“They are a quality side, we all know that. The fact that the way they attacked in the second part of the game and kept the ball away from us was really good. Yes, we made some uncommon errors in the second part of the game, dropped the ball and small things like that. But the fact that we stuck to it all the way to the end, I'm really proud.”

Glasgow dominated the first half, scoring tries through Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn and George Horne - who converted all three - to lead 21-3 at the interval. Saracens posed more of a threat in the second half but couldn’t break down a resolute Warriors defence.

Saracens are three-time winners of Europe’s top prize but Glasgow made them look second best to complete a remarkable pool phase which also saw them come back from 21-0 down against six-time champions Toulouse to win 28-21. Sale and Clermont were their other victims.

“It's the closest to a Test match we'll get,” added Smith. “You play all the best players in Europe, and obviously in the world if you add the South African teams. So, there's a lot of quality rugby that needs to be played. Your set-piece has got to be on top of both sides of the ball.”

The bonus of home advantage

Glasgow were heavily beaten by Leinster in Dublin in the Champions Cup quarter-finals last season and Smith hopes they can use home advantage to make better progress this time.

“It's only an opportunity if you make use of it,” said the coach. “Last year we'd gone through the round of 16 and we got hammered in the quarters and I think part of it was a lot of injuries. At that stage, home advantage would have served us much better than going to hostile places like the Aviva.

“If we go to Toulouse, if we go to the Aviva, if we go to any of the top teams that we are facing in this competition, it's tough. Hopefully, Scotstoun will give us that confidence that we have won a lot of games here as well.”