Glasgow Warriors skipper Kyle Steyn admits the “disappointing” 43-19 loss to Toulon in the Challenge Cup final is a tricky one to process.
Steyn himself scored a double to add to Sebastian Cancelliere’s try, but it was not enough to beat the French side, who looked brilliant throughout the clash.
The final loss comes soon after Glasgow bowed out of the United Rugby Championship at the quarter-final stage after going down to Munster.
Lessons not learnt
Steyn was frustrated with the defeat and in particular how the side did not learn well enough from their Munster loss.
“It’s disappointing and a pretty tough one to process,” Steyn said.
“We weren’t where we needed to be in the first 20 minutes, but credit to Toulon – we were too soft.
“To come this far, and progress the way we have, and then to come unstuck in two play-off games will take some time to get over.
“We had enough belief that we could get this done. I thought there were lessons we could have learned against Munster that would have put us in a position to win this, but we didn’t react enough to them.
“I’m proud of the way the boys kept on fighting. We created chances, but in play-off rugby you have to take your chances.
“At the start of the season we said we wanted to play rugby in a way that inspired people to follow us and support us and with the number of people following us in Dublin it felt as though we had done that to some degree.”
Finally claimed the title
Meanwhile, Toulon finally triumphed in a Challenge Cup final after losing on four previous occasions.
Toulon boss Franck Azema said: “We learned a lot last year when we lost in the Challenge Cup final for a fourth time. This must now be the start of something, and the next job is to build on it.
“We were consistent and efficient, and we scored quickly. We never switched off, and it was nice to finish with that final try in the last few minutes.”
A legend bows out
It was the last outing in European competition for the legendary Sergio Parisse, who scored a try in the final.
“I knew I was going into one of my last games, but I tried to treat it as just another game. I really enjoyed it,” said Parisse.
“We tried to dominate physically, played well and dominated from the first minute. We showed from the start that we wanted to take control.
“I’m just happy to be playing with this group and to be finishing my career at Toulon. It was a long day, but I enjoyed every minute of it.”
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