Glasgow boss Franco Smith: Leinster 'maybe better than Ireland'

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith cut a fairly a sanguine figure following his side’s heavy defeat to Leinster in their Champions Cup quarter-final in Dublin.

Glasgow didn’t land a blow in the 52-0 thrashing in Aviva Stadium and Smith was more than happy to hand Leinster their flowers after the fact, suggesting that the Irish provincial side are “maybe better than Ireland”.

“We are a proud team, we came with our best intent but if you look at it we were outplayed by an international team,” said Smith in the post-match press conference.

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“And we knew coming here that they would be up for this. They haven’t played much since the Six Nations so they are fresh, and they have a point to prove in Europe, but we still came with our best intent, and I can’t fault the effort of the boys.

“We were just absolutely outplayed in every facet of the game. I’m not the first coach to sit here and say that. I think other coaches have sat here and said how good they are.

“The score as a reflection of the game looks big. But if you are chasing a score of 33-0 at half-time you are going to take chances in areas of the field where you shouldn’t and that is going to lead to other points.

“Once a year, or once a season, with a good team, blips like this happen. It is just unfortunate we came up against an extremely good team. They scored 62 points last week, and now they have scored 114 points in two games.

“They must be doing something well, and that’s where the compliment sits tonight.

“We just got beaten by the best team in Europe, maybe better than Ireland if you are replacing Bundee Aki with Jordie Barrett.

“What I am excited about is that nine or 10 of our first-choice players got the opportunity to experience this.”