Glasgow captain Jonny Gray hailed a special feat after Warriors reached this season’s European Champions Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
Not only are Glasgow through to the last eight but they did it in remarkable fashion by crushing twice-European champions Leicester 43-0 at Welford Road.
It was the first time since 1978 that Leicester had failed to score a point in a home match, their heaviest European defeat anywhere and biggest loss, home or away, since Bath beat them 45-0 in September 2014. Not since the Barbarians battered the Tigers 73-19 in March 1998 had one of English rugby’s heavyweight clubs been floored so spectacularly on home soil during its 137-year history.
“That was something very special,” said Gray, whose rampant team ran in six tries to claim a top-flight European knockout place for the first time. “Reaching the quarter-finals is something the players have been working hard to achieve. It has been a long-time goal.
“Qualifying is not just for the players but for those who played in the years before – the likes of Al Kellock – and all the supporters who travelled.
“It was a special feeling and I am proud to make history. It was a team performance – everybody did their job really well. All credit to our players, who stuck to our gameplan and did their job. For it to come together is special. We are proud to have qualified for everyone involved with the club and in the past.”
Glasgow can now set their sights on the Champions Cup last eight and, even though they will be away from home, hopes of further progression in the tournament cannot be discounted.
Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend added: “April is a couple of months away. We will be playing away but we should take confidence from beating two excellent teams away from home in Racing 92 and Leicester in the pool stages.
“Come April, I would like to think we will be in a very good position to give it a crack whoever we play.”
Glasgow shipped 90 points when they faced Leicester in a European quarter-final play-off game at Welford Road 19 years ago and, with Edinburgh also making progress this season in the Challenge Cup, Scottish professional rugby is flying high.
“It’s a great end to the chapter, from where Scottish rugby started in professional rugby and where it is today,” Townsend said.
“Almost 20 years ago Glasgow were conceding 90 points, 10 years ago there wasn’t much hope for the future of Scottish pro rugby, with one of the teams closing down and the others not doing well.
“Now we’ve got a situation where we’ve had a huge number of supporters at Leicester and the team winning.
“It was a big game. We knew if we won we would go through and if we didn’t then it would be a terrible disappointment. To win away from home is huge.”
