'You can’t put the blame down to him.' - Harlequins not blaming Marcus Smith for Champions Cup exit
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Harlequins coach Tabai Matson says they will not be blaming England star Marcus Smith for their agonising Champions Cup exit against Montpellier.
Smith wasn't able to convert Louis Lynagh’s 75th-minute try, despite it being a relatively straight forward chance, in a 33-20 Round of 16 second-leg victory at Twickenham Stoop.
The extra two points would have sent Quins through to the quarter-finals.
“He [Smith] will be disappointed like all the players who have really high standards,” Quins senior coach Matson said.
“It will hit him, but we play Leicester next week. Our Europe is over, that is the big thing, and that is gutting and it is how quickly you bounce [back].
“As with all the guys that touch the ball the most, they get a bit of leeway because the margin of error is really hard.
“You don’t have to tell someone they missed a pass or missed a goal kick. They know.
“It is not just him. He was there for the winning of the game at the end, but you can’t put the blame down to him.
“We probably had three opportunities in the first half that we missed to get the scoreboard ticking over.”
Danny Care and Jerry Flannery also defended Smith in their post-match interviews with BT Sport.
"We should have won by more which is the disappointing thing..."
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) April 16, 2022
Gutting for @Harlequins and Danny Care as they come up shy over the aggregate, the opportunities to win the tie fell just wide of the mark 😪#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/kbGPQmDIvt
"We haven't been to this stage of the competition for a while, when you get chances against the top teams you got to take them."@Harlequins' coach Jerry Flannery hopes they'll learn from their tough loss.
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) April 16, 2022
"We win together, we lose together." 🤝#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/40SSWDw4X5
