Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie tried to hold his tongue, but it was clear he was frustrated.
There was frustration over some of Nigel Owens’ decision-making and Rob Kearney avoiding a red-card, but there was also frustration over his team falling short at the final hurdle.
Leinster were 18-15 victors, retaining their Guinness PRO14 title at Celtic Park, but Warriors will rue going in behind at half-time and not being clinical enough in the final 10 minutes.
“We’re a better side than that,” Rennie mused, post-match. “Leinster defended really well.. we had some opportunities we didn’t take… We handed them the ball 8 or 9 times.”
While Fraser Brown was lucky to avoid the sin-bin after an off-the-ball tackle on Luke McGrath, Leinster had an escape of their own when Kearney only saw yellow after he collided mid-air with Stuart Hogg.
Stuart Hogg crashes to earth at Celtic Park.(Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile)Kearney returned to give Leinster a full complement in the final five minutes and Leinster were able to close the game out. Asked about the decision, Rennie said:
“Those decisions seem different every time you see a game. The telling thing for us is that we lost Hoggy at the same time. The officials made their decision and we have to live with it.
“It was a loss of vision. He felt like he was going to spew and something else. Match doctor and our doctor made the decision and he was out of the game before he got to the sideline.”
“I’m not going to comment,” Rennie later added. “One week the ref says red, the other it’s a yellow, and the next it’s play on. Our main concern was Hoggy.”
The New Zealander remarked that the Warriors dressing room ‘was a bit of a casualty ward for us’ as Hogg joined Fraser Brown (ankle) and Sam Johnson (leg) before the game was done.
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