‘We were not good enough’ – Townsend

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Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend believes that his team were not good enough in their 16-11 PRO12 semi-final loss to Connacht on Saturday.

With more than 500 of the Warrior Nation roaring the team on, the club were unable to reach their third consecutive final.

After the match head coach Gregor Townsend reflected on what was a tough 80 minutes for his players.

“We didn’t play as well as we set out to play, it’s as simple as that," Townsend told the official Glasgow Warriors website.

"When you compete in a Play-Off you’ve got to play close to your best to win, especially when you’re away from home.

“We didn’t do that in the first-half, but we improved in the second period. We started well but didn’t manage to sustain it for the full 40 minutes."

The 43-year-old former Scotland legend has, however, credited his players' first-half effort, despite the improved performance in the second 40.

Townsend singled out the semi-final debutant, D'arcy Rae, after the replacement prop was introduced early in the match after Zander Fagerson was forced to leave the field. 

“The players put in huge effort and you could tell by the way they were cramping up in the second-half how much effort went in. The effort from players like D’arcy Rae who came on after one minute was outstanding. That was his first Play-Off and he’ll learn a lot from it.

“It was a shame that we lost a few players in the first-half and our thoughts are with Finn who had to go off early on. We hope he recovers well. The likes of Zander and Simone will also be disappointed not to have played longer.As a team you need to adapt to certain circumstances and we didn’t do that well enough in the first-half, so that’s something for us to work on. We’re just really disappointed that it is the Play-Off and we won’t get another chance until next season.”

Townsend has thanked the Glasgow faithful for their continual support all season long, and expressed his gratitude towards them.

“I thought the supporters were outstanding. The atmosphere when we arrived at the ground was outstanding,” he said.

“They backed the team right throughout the game. We’re really proud of the fans as they’ve been incredible all season with some doing back-to-back trips to Galway. We’re disappointed for them but the players put in huge effort and they’ll be better for the experience. We’ll have to be as there’s more and more competition in the PRO12 now."