'The yellow card hurt us': Wilson pinpoints where Glasgow let lead slip in Europe exit

Glasgow head coach Danny Wilson bemoaned his sides lack of discipline as they were knocked out of the European Challenge Cup by Lyon in France.

Midway through the second-half the Scottish club looked odds-on to reach their first European semi-final as they held a 14-point lead.

But they capitulated in the final quarter as Lyon turned the screw up-front to run out 35-27 victors.

“I think the yellow card to Jamie Bhatti was a turning point, we struggled with a few kick-offs, and a few exits,” said Wilson.

“That led to us playing in the wrong positions on the field, and the yellow card hurt us.

“A few tries came during that period. I think they changed their tactics by attacking us aerially. They kicked bomb after bomb after bomb and didn’t play any rugby because I think we defended pretty well against them on the whole.

“Off the back of those kicks, whether it was the counter rugby or the loose ball, they managed to play into some good field position.

“We didn’t find any good field position in the last 20 minutes, so it was a tough end to that game, but I think commitment, effort, and heart for Glasgow Warriors was in abundance.

“We are disappointed having been in a good lead that we’ve ended up losing that game.”

Tries from Baptiste Couilloud, Romain Taofifenua, and a brace from Georgian wing Davit Niniashvili fired the Top 14 side into the Challenge Cup semi-finals.

Josh McKay and Cole Forbes scored tries for Glasgow with Ross Thompson kicking 10 points.

This was a clash of styles with Glasgow hurting their French hosts whenever they were able to get quick ball, but ultimately the power of Lyon’s pack and their superior bench made the difference.

Despite exiting at the quarter-final stage, Wilson insists there were plenty of positives to take as Glasgow turn their attention towards reaching the United Rugby Championship play-offs.

“We scored a couple of good tries, and our turnover attack was good,” said Wilson.

“When we forced some turnovers, we kept the ball alive and played some good rugby. At times they looked out on their feet a little bit when we could get that speed into the game.

“I want to say how proud I am of the players, and their efforts. If you think of the number of away games we’ve had to play and injuries we’ve had over the last few weeks, we gave ourselves a really good opportunity to win that game.”