Watching Glasgow's capitulation at Welford Road recalled the old story about Gavin Hastings and his pep talk to his Scottish side in the dressing room before an international. "It'll be hard out there. This will sort the men out from the boys", he said to his less than awesome team. They are interrupted by a knock on the door from the referee. "Okay boys are you ready?" he asks. There was an echo to that tale after this Heineken Cup quarter final play-off on Saturday.

"It was boys against men out there," said Kevin Greene, the New Zealander whose two year spell as Glasgow's coach came to a shuddering halt. And so while Leicester fly off to Pau this Friday for next Sunday's quarter final, Greene will fly back to his Waikato farm today.

"We were blown away. In Scotland we're still a year behind as far as physical development is concerned. We haven't got the big hitters," he admitted. "Leicester were outstanding but this isn't the Glasgow team that had played so well throughout the competition. We had the big stage but we let ourselves down."

How Glasgow managed to overcome Swansea and Ulster in the qualifying group is a mystery after an abject display in which they conceded 14 tries. Glasgow were destroyed up front. Yes, Leicester were outstanding but they were allowed to be when the tackling was so nonexistent. Joel Stransky scored 35 points, including three tries, an individual record for the competition. The former Springbok fly half orchestrated proceedings expertly while another South African Michael Horak scored four tries in a magnificent exhibition of running full back play. Will Greenwood was also back to his form of last season in the Leicester centre, using his strength expertly to stay on his feet in tackles and delivering a series of devastating passes.