Warriors were left to reflect on what might have been

Warriors entered the tie with justified confidence, but were unable to find their usual rhythm against a determined French outfit. Despite scoring three tries to Toulon's four, Glasgow were unable to assert any real control and ultimately paid the price in a narrow defeat.

There were moments of quality from the home side. Early pressure told when Stafford McDowall crossed following slick handling, with Ollie Smith later finishing a well-worked move to keep Glasgow on top. After the break, Gregor Hiddleston powered over from a driving maul to briefly restore the lead and ignite hopes around Scotstoun.

However, Toulon responded at key moments. A brace from Gael Drean and a powerful score from Jean-Baptiste Gros kept the visitors in touch, before poor Glasgow defence saw Nacho Brex go over in the second half.

Injuries and disruption, including the loss of George Horne, played their part, but credit must go to Toulon for capitalising on their opportunities, slowing Glasgow ruck ball and defending resolutely when it mattered most.

It marks a disappointing end to a promising European run for Glasgow, who had their sights set on a home semi-final.

Warriors have coped well with the loss of key players to injury and been able to find ways to win despite not always being at their best. However, today it looked like they had gone to the well one time too often.

There remains much to build on as the squad looks ahead to the remainder of the season, but for now it just feels like a lost opportunity.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith spoke after the game: "First of all I'm really proud of the campaign.

"I don't think people know how tough it is. I think we were inaccurate in the first half. Enough to be proud of and enough to learn from but obviously tonight we're going to be very disappointed.

"Toulon defended well. Defence wins finals, we know that and they did it well. I thought we defended really well in large parts. There were one or two soft tries which is annoying and will be a regret.

"The expectation was massive and that sometimes creeps under the skin of the players. We must get used to playing these big games and you would think with the amount of test match rugby we've played that would help. I think the expectation played a role in the inaccuracy but we're going to look back and take enough positives to progress again.

"There were some good opportunities missed because we'd rather keep the ball than pass it. I think it's important to us to take the learnings from this and see how we can improve.

"The important thing is to be accurate. There were five or six opportunities we could have taken and if we were a little bit more accurate it would have changed the outcome. Every opportunity is important. We just need to be a little bit more clinical and precise."