When Glasgow Warriors stormed into the Champions Cup knockouts on Sunday night, they entered new territory. Four wins from four, a perfect 20 points from a possible 20 and a seeding of two in the last 16.
The do-or-die end element to this tournament is nothing new to them – the difference this time is that there’s never been a better chance of more doing and less dying.
In the last four seasons, only a few select clubs have done the maximum in the group stage – Bordeaux have done it twice, Toulouse once and Leinster once. Glasgow now join those behemoths and champions of Europe.
It’s ridiculous to remain coy any longer. It defies the evidence of our own eyes to say that Glasgow are not among the top four or five clubs left in the competition.
They’re brilliantly coached, they have a deep squad, they have an all-court game and they have home advantage. They’ve created the greatest platform they’ve ever had in this competition, they’ve closed a seismic gulf that once existed between them and Saracens.
In their pomp in 2018-19, Saracens hosted Glasgow in the first knockout round and beat them 56-27. A few survivors remain – among them the Fagerson brothers, Kyle Steyn, Stafford McDowall, Scott Cummings and George Horne.
Glasgow now have a home last-16 game against the Bulls. If they win that then they’re home again in the quarter-final and, if they negotiate that one, they’ll have home country advantage in the semi-final, most likely Murrayfield.
Last month, Franco Smith, the coach, said he was wary of people getting ahead of themselves in declaring Glasgow as proper contenders. “I fear expectation,” he said. “We don’t want to carry extra weight going forward.”
He’d better get used to it. In their group, at home, they beat six-time champions Toulouse and three-time champions Saracens with a lethal combination of ambitious, audacious, high-risk attacking rugby, coupled with an enormous defensive ferocity.
Those performances were a sure-fire way to get people talking. And cheering and possibly swooning.
Some of the stuff Glasgow produced against Saracens on Sunday was just glorious. Saracens are an outstanding, if inconsistent, side, but they were blown away 28-3.
The 28 tells you everything about Glasgow’s elan, the three screams their title credentials. It’s in defence that every side reveals itself as the real deal or one trick ponies. On both sides of the ball, Smith’s team are elite.
“We want to make Scotstoun proud and we heard them tonight.” Smith said later on. The South African has his feet so firmly planted on the ground that it’s a wonder he moves about, so some of the stuff he said can be deemed effusive.
“I thought the defence in the second part of the game was fantastic. We worked really hard to apply ourselves physically and to be fit enough and resilient enough to stay in the fight. It was a pleasure to watch.
“Nobody would have bet on us before the start of this campaign that we would end up where we did. So, I’m happy with that, first of all. Yes, but we also know this is just the start.”
In the United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup, Glasgow have won 11 of their 13 games and have landed a try bonus point in nine of them. Their consistency across two tournaments is new ground for them.
This is the first time Glasgow will be fighting on two fronts with realistic prospects in both competitions. That could bring its own pressures down the line, but right now it’s a buzz. Scotstoun was a special place to be on Sunday.
The last 16 is a veritable eternity away in the first week of April, but there is nothing for them to fear at home. If you were to go by seeding then the Bulls, Toulon and Leinster will be coming to Scotland to face them, all going perfectly. There’s many worlds between facing these sides at home rather than away.
“We always come out and we try and be brave, hold on to the ball and play from anywhere,” Horne said in the aftermath. The scrum-half was a buzz-bomb in that opening half, an unstoppable wee man among giants.
“You dream and you hope that you’re going to get four wins from four,” he said. “I think that’s the difference this year. We actually believe that.
“We’ve played two of the most successful teams in Europe over the past few years (or ever). And we’ve shown that, if we play our best, we can match them (or beat them handsomely).
“Look, going into the last 16, it’s knockout rugby. So we’ve got to keep being at our best and, yeah, just buzzing for it, to be honest.”
Glasgow came into this season on a bit of a downer. They’d lost Tom Jordan, a vital cog in their URC title win, Henco Venter, a fantastic leader and Seb Cancelliere, a fantastically versatile and consistent operator.
They’d exited Europe at the cruel hands of Leinster, who put 50 on them, before losing their URC crown in another comprehensive defeat in Dublin in the semi-final.
They were supposed to be in decline. They were meant to slowly fade away, their players departing and their results diminishing.
But Smith has reinvented things. He’s brought through a new wave. Nobody imagined this, not in the wildest of dreams.
Glasgow are contenders. Smith is just going to have to get used to carrying that weight of expectation and exhilaration.
