January 17, 2017
Glasgow Warriors need to find clinical edge for European progress
And so it has come to this for Glasgow - a game against Leicester in Welford Road on Saturday that has to be won. A game that is winnable, for sure, but there's no safety net this time, no second chance.
Glasgow __have to take four points, and maybe five, from the Tigers to make the last eight of the Champions Cup as one of the best runners-up.
Amid the despond of their 14-12 defeat by Munster at Scotstoun, there was a modicum of cheer. Just as the Glasgow players were removing their strapping in the dressing room, Racing were removing Leicester from Europe.
In Leicester, Glasgow will face a team with nothing left to play for in this competition except pride.
That, of course, might still be a problem. Leicester are not in the business of losing European games at home, be they competitive or dead-rubbers. They __have lost one Heineken Cup, or Champions Cup, match at Welford Road since December 2006.
They have no coach at the moment. They've been spanked three times in Europe this season, all away from home. They're mid-table in their domestic league and they have little stability.
But this is Welford Road. It's different there. Beating them at home is still a pretty mean assignment.
This is Glasgow's reality. It need not have been, of course.
There were six minutes left at Scotstoun when Glasgow's moment of truth arrived. Consider what happened up to that point, not just on the night but across the span of games in this group.
Going into Saturday, Munster's defence was the best in Europe and now they're through the other side, it's still the best. If anything, its legend has grown.
They had conceded a meagre three tries in four games before facing Glasgow - two of them after they had already built a 31-3 lead against Townsend's side in Limerick and the other when already 32-0 ahead against Racing in Paris.
On Saturday, they were just as steadfast and just as stingy. Glasgow couldn't break them. Munster's line speed, work-rate, organisation and heart was too big.
If they were going to skin this cat, Glasgow were most likely going to have to do it with kicks not tries. That was pretty clear from a long way out. They as good as accepted it when opting to kick penalties from 50m-plus in the first half.
In those closing minutes, they were down in numbers - Stuart Hogg was in the bin - and down on the scoreboard - Francis Saili had just scored - but they had field position and hope. All they needed was clear heads and composure.
Conor Murray - the latest player to be allowed to return to the field after seemingly being knocked-out on the pitch, an episode that European Rugby should be taking a very close look at this week - had his clearance kick blocked down and there Glasgow were, on the front foot in Munster's 22, close enough to get Finn Russell into the pocket for what should have been as straightforward a drop-goal as a game of this mad intensity could allow.
The drop-goal would have put Glasgow in front. It wouldn't have guaranteed a win but it would have made Munster go back to the well to try to find something in the closing minutes. And there was no guarantee that they'd have found it.
In that moment, though, nobody in the Glasgow team took control. Russell should have been screaming for the ball, but he wasn't. He was too easy to ignore - and ignore him Glasgow did.
They tried to truck it up, passing up a possible three in the doomed pursuit of five, or seven. Indecision - or bad decisions - killed them.
What happened next told you something about the difference between the sides. Glasgow were driven back a yard, then another yard, then a few more yards and a few more on top of that.
Not only did they choke on the chance of a drop-goal, they gave Munster the massive boon of physically shunting them into reverse. The visitors had landed a psychological howitzer.
For all the good stuff Glasgow produced, they just weren't clinical enough or clever enough when they needed to be. They had chances and didn't take them.
Contrast that with Munster's try, their ability to appreciate where the space was after Hogg's exit, their coolness in the execution.
Keith Earls' work in drawing the cover to him and then finding Saili was exceptional. That was the game-breaker, the moment of class on a night when two fine teams battered each other into the ground.
Munster's progression has been remarkable. They've tapped into some hugely powerful emotions since the death of their coach, Anthony Foley. They're being propelled forward by new players that have found their feet, resurgent players that have found fitness and stand-up warriors like Murray, CJ Stander, Peter O'Mahony and Donnacha Ryan.
Their coaches, Rassie Erasmus, Jacques Nienaber and Jerry Flannery, have taken the team almost back to the future, when Foley, himself, was the spiritual leader of a side that had a belligerence and intelligence that helped them grind out victories on days when you would have bet the house on them being defeated.
If it's right that a team reveals its true self only when its defence is tested to the max, then Munster are a serious contender for this Champions Cup.
Glasgow got close, but nobody remembers those who almost made it. Those who watch Glasgow play will argue that they're a last eight team, that they're good enough to be in among the elite. Perhaps.
They have one more crack at proving it. What they deliver in Leicester will define them.
Andy Murray column on Grand Slam nerves, being a Sir and Christmas as a father
| 2017 Australian Open |
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| Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 16-29 January |
| Coverage: Live radio and text commentary of every Andy Murray match on BBC Radio, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. Watch highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January. |
The first round of a Grand Slam is always tricky, but I am glad to get through it.
My first-round match against Illya Marchenko, the world number 95, was OK but it was hard going.
It was tough conditions. The on-court temperature was in the high 30s, which wasn't easy.
I didn't feel any extra pressure playing my first Grand Slam as the world number one. I felt nervous beforehand, but I get that before all Slams.
I always feel that bit of extra nerves and bit of extra pressure because these are the tournaments that often you work towards. They're the biggest tournament for tennis players. It would be a bad sign if you weren't coming in nervous so I treat it as a good sign.
Being nervous shows me that I want to play well and that I'm up for it. Normally nerves tend to make me feel better or play better but I found it tough on Monday in harsh conditions.
The crowd were good. Sometimes in day sessions, when it's hot as it was, it's not easy for people to sit out in the sun for that long. There was a great atmosphere and lot of people out there watching.
'I'm happy with plain old Andy'
After I was knighted I was asked if I wanted to be known as Sir Andy, from whether it was in the draws and on the scoreboards to when I was getting announced.
I'm happy with just plain old Andy, though.
It was an amazing honour to receive, although I __have had some mickey-taking with some of the players about calling me 'Sir', especially the ones that __have known me for a long time.
'It helps having family here'
In Grand Slams, if you go through to the end, you have two weeks of tennis with a day off after every match.
Kim and Sophia are here with me in Australia and it helps. It's nice to have them here and take my mind off the tennis when the matches are done.
I have a lot of family here: Kim's mum is also here, as is Jamie and my mum. In the morning we can have breakfast together as a family and then in the evening, when I get back from practice, Sophia is starting to get ready for bed.
So sadly it means I don't get to do a lot of the fun stuff with them during the day.
'I didn't get the dogs anything for Christmas'
I flew to Australia after being able to have Christmas with my family. My first Christmas as a father was good, but busy.
A lot of Christmases I have been away or at training, so it was good to be able to see Sophia on Christmas Day.
I spent the morning with my wife and daughter and Kim's family, then I flew at midday up to Scotland and had lunch with my mum's side of my family. Then in the evening I went to my dad's to have dinner with his family. It was a busy day and I did all right with presents too.
I didn't get the dogs anything this Christmas. My wife normally gets them toys and presents, and they get sent lots of stuff from my mum and my grandparents. They do pretty well, but they are just as happy tearing into the wrapping paper on Christmas Day.
- Andy Murray was talking to BBC Sport's Amy Lofthouse.