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Glasgow Warriors scrum-half Henry Pyrgos is determined to take another giant leap towards the European Rugby Champions Cup quarter-finals with a second triumph over Racing 92.
Gregor Townsend’s men earned a historic 23-14 triumph over last season’s finalists at Stade Yves-du-Manoir to boost their push towards the knockout stages. Their third victory on French soil saw them keep pace with Munster in the Pool 1 race.
But they will have to repeat their famous victory in-front of their Scotstoun faithful if they are to maintain their challenge. And Pyrgos, who has just put pen-to-paper on a new deal at Scotstoun, is determined to make it two in-a-row against Dan Carter and co.
“We've been competing at the top end of the league for a while but we have not cracked Europe,” Pyrgos said. “When you look at the Racing team sheet you can probably see why. Every team you come up against is a real quality side.
“In the past we have had good wins but we are going to have to back it up week after week and play really well consistently. That is the challenge for us this weekend. It is an exciting one and the boys are raring to go. They want to go out and show we can do it again against quality opposition.”
Co-captain Pyrgos will be pushing to start over Ali Price, who was entrusted in the scrum-half role in Paris. Racing, who sit bottom of the pool without a win from their two matches so far, are out to kickstart their campaign. And coach Ronan O’Gara knows they will have to claim a bonus-point win if they are to get back in the knockout picture.
He said: “Glasgow greatly deserved the victory, there is nothing to complain about. They defended very well against our strengths and we, we committed too many faults in the current game. Mentally, we were not there.
“The use of the calculator could soon prove useless, as soon as Friday in case of another defeat, in Glasgow this time. Mathematically, we can still qualify. But it will be necessary to win practically all matches with bonus.”
Glasgow Warriors moved to the summit of European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 1 after they repeated their famous triumph over last season’s runners-up Racing 92.
Gregor Townsend’s stunned Dan Carter and co. in the first-half with tries from centurion Josh Strauss and hooker Fraser Brown, before scrum-half Ali Price darted over to seal the 23-7 victory. Racing look dead and buried in this season’s competition less than seven months on from reaching last season’s final in Lyon, as they could only conjure a consolation try from Xavier Chauveau.
Glasgow top Pool 1 with 13 points, three clear of quarter-final rivals Munster, who play Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.
The hosts got off to the perfect start in their bid to move top of Pool 1, and it was their new centurion who crashed over. Finn Russell's delicate chip was collected by Tommy Seymour, who looked to have put Stuart Hogg in at the corner. The full-back was stopped short but offloaded to Strauss, who crashed over on his 100th appearance.
And it did not take long for Gregor Townsend’s men to build on their early advantage. With Russell enjoying a free reign at outside-half, the Warriors moved the ball from left to right. Russell then took the ball at first receiver and sent Brown crashing through a hole in midfield, and the hooker finished in style.
Russell landed the conversion and added two more penalties to take the score to 18-0. Marc Andreu thought he had kicked off the comeback with a try at the end of the half, but Seymour’s leg prevented the wing from grounding the ball.
Things went from bad to worse for last season’s finalists six minutes after the break. Scrum-half Price repeated last week’s heroics to sell a dummy to beat a defender before darting over from five-metres out for a 23-0 advantage. The Warriors chased a bonus-point score but it was Chauveau who bagged a late consolation try.
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