Townsend hails defensive Warriors
Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend reckons their rearguard efforts can guide them into the European Champions Cup quarterfinals.
Finn Russell produced a faultless kicking display to lead his side to a 15-13 triumph at Montpellier.
It was only their second win on French soil in Europe's premier competition and Townsend hailed his defensive Warriors.
He said: "We understood what this game meant. This was our first away game, Montpellier picked up a bonus point last week, Toulouse won and could have been clear at the top of this group.
"We produced a huge defensive effort, and kept knocking Montpellier back, especially in our part of the field."
Townsend spent two seasons with the Top 14 high-flyers 10 years ago, which gave him valuable insight into the French game.
That, coupled with Russell's assured performance led the Pro12 runners-up to victory, and Townsend hailed his latest star.
He said: "This was Finn Russell's first European start. He had a very mature performance, it was only his second start of the season, coming back from injury. He had learned a lot from his last game, some of his kicking and decision making today was excellent, his composure for the goal-kicking was superb.
"We do have a lot of experience as well, with guys like Euan Murray, who had to play something like 30 scrums in 79 minutes. It's a collaboration, with players and coaches working well together.
"I sort of had an insight to the French psyche this week and what we could expect on how Montpellier would try to assert their dominance, a lot of driving mauls, pressure in the scrum.
"There were times where they had an edge, but we came back strong.
"We made good decisions when we had possession in the first half, and it gave us a little lead. It kept the pressure on Montpellier to do something, and they have the players to do so. But we defended really well."
