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Danny Wilson blames costly mistakes as Glasgow lose to La Rochelle
By PA
Glasgow coach Danny Wilson says his team only have themselves to blame for their 38-30 defeat to La Rochelle in the Heineken Champions Cup at Scotstoun.
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Trailing 15-9 at the interval, Josh McKay’s converted try at the start of the second half looked to have given Warriors the perfect route back into the game.
But then hosts then imploded, coughing up 20 points inside five minutes through tries for Pierre Bourgarit and Pierre Boudehent, plus two conversions and two penalties from Pierre Popelin.
Two late tries from replacement Ollie Smith were not enough to turn things around for Glasgow and they must now rely on both Ospreys and Montpellier failing to get what they need from their final matches on Sunday, against Sale and Exeter respectively, if they are to progress to the last 16.
And while acknowledging that his players defended well for most of the match, Wilson believes they paid a heavy price for lapses in concentration at key moments.
“When you play the heavyweights of Europe you cannot give them those sorts of error opportunities, and that’s what happened tonight,” he said.
“We gave them too many soft points. We scored 30 points and lost at home and that’s disappointing.
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“We still have a lifeline in this competition. We wanted it to be in our own hands, we genuinely felt we could win today at home where we have a really good record, but it wasn’t to be.
“It was a good side we were playing against – a big, physical side – and perhaps some of the errors you get away with in other games you won’t get away with here.
“This side will score against you if you give them half a chance. That’s why they are where they are and reached the European final last year.”
Wilson took little comfort from his side fighting back, with two late tries through replacement full-back Smith making the final scoreline respectable.
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“Spirit should be a given for us,” he said. “The boys came out the second half and scored some nice tries but ultimately we came up a little bit short. We gifted the opposition too much.
“I think the breakdown was an issue for us. We got jackalled and turned over a number of times. And I thought our choice of tackles at times was poor.
“We went quite high against a team who can carry up the field and get momentum and ended up with us getting stuck at the wrong end of the pitch, especially in the first half.
“We’ll see what happens tomorrow and see what it means for us moving forward.”
