IT IS a sign of Glasgow Warriors’ sustained and systematic improvement over the past four seasons that their failure to qualify for a third successive PRO12 final should be seen as a severe disappointment. After all, it is not so long since even contending for a play-off place was the height of their ambition, and, viewed in that context, it would be unfair of us to expect them to get to the final every year.

But failure it was. By no means a shameful failure, yet nonetheless a deeply frustrating one.

Connacht, who beat the Warriors 16-11 in Saturday’s semi-final, are worthy finalists. Their story, too, is of a team who, after long being league also-rans, have steadily become better thanks in large part to the vision of their head coach.

Nonetheless, when you compare the climax to this campaign with the victorious end to last season, it is clear that, when it counted most this time round, Glasgow were unable to hit the top of their game.

The question now is what Gregor Townsend and his coaching team can do over the next few months to make a return to past glories feasible. That the squad will be smaller is understandable, given that next season will not have the disruption of a Rugby World Cup. But, for the second successive summer, key players are moving on, and, while there is no need to find a replacement for every departure, there is no doubt that quality reinforcements will be required.

Last year, Niko Matawalu, DTH van der Merwe and Sean Maitland, all of them try-scorers of distinction, left Glasgow. This year Leone Nakarawa - arguably an even more important player - is on his way. Italy winger Leonardo Sarto is among those already signed for next season, but a couple more big signings would not go amiss.

Just as significantly, however, is the need for the current cast to rediscover their best form. They appeared to have done just that during the nine-game winning run that propelled them into the play-offs, but after the Connacht loss Peter Horne insisted that in general they had been off the pace.

“Everyone in the dressing room knows that we can still get better by 10 or 20 per cent,” the centre said after his 100th appearance for the Warriors ended in bitter disappointment. “We’ve barely fired at all this season. We blew teams away in a couple of games, but apart from that we’ve played in dribs and drabs.

“We’ve got more than enough firepower to compete. We just have to make sure we work really hard in the pre-season. It will be good to get everyone together right from the start, go into those dark places and work to make sure we improve and we hit the ground running at the start of next season.

“We were distraught,” Horne continued. “The changing room was gutted. It’s a tough way for the boys who are leaving to be sent off.

“We need to get better. We need to improve, and we will for next season I’m sure.

“We want to be winning every game we’re involved in. That result doesn’t sit well with us at all.”

A notable factor of Glasgow’s rise was the way they took a step at a time - from losing semi-finalists to runners-up to winners. It became accepted wisdom that they needed to experience the big occasion before learning how to make the most of it - and yet on Saturday, Connacht, in the play-offs for the first time, made nonsense of that notion.

Horne was entirely correct to point out the firepower in a Warriors squad which will still contain the likes of Stuart Hogg and Mark Bennett next season. Both of those men had their moments, but the team as a whole only rarely offered glimpses of its grandeur.

“In the ten minutes after half-time we finally got into our shape and we cut them to pieces,” the centre added. “If we could have kept a hold of the ball and got into our rhythm I think we could have scored a few tries, but such is life.

“There is plenty to work on and that result will definitely spur us on next season. It was tough, but we certainly left a lot of chances out there. We’re disappointed, but it will spur us on to do better.”

While Townsend takes time to reflect on a season that ended a week too early, the immediate impact of Saturday’s match will be felt by Scotland coach Vern Cotter as he finalises his squad for next month’s two-Test tour to Japan. Finn Russell was in hospital for a second night last night after sustaining a head injury in the first minute of the game, and, although no formal diagnosis has yet been announced, he was suspected to have a cheekbone fracture. Such an injury would keep the stand-off out of action for several months.

Several Warriors returned home as walking wounded, including captain Jonny Gray, who had a moonboot on. Glasgow are expected to publish a medical bulletin today, and Cotter will then decide on who to call up for the Japan journey.