Franco Smith said he was proud of his Glasgow team despite the URC champions falling to a dramatic defeat against Ulster in their season opener on Saturday night. 

An 84th-minute try from Dave Shanahan earned the home side victory in Belfast, but despite the loss, Smith was upbeat post-match. 

How do you assess that one? 

I'm proud of the boys. If we have to lose a game, this is the way to do it. We fought. Yes, we managed the last two minutes badly. But the way we fought, even with the two yellow cards down, I was really proud.

There were two turning points. One just before half-time where we should have got better from the maul. We should have scored there. Then there was the try that was chalked off which could have taken us to 19-12. It would have changed the whole thing. 

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We lost the two yellow cards and played with 13 men without really giving more points. Then we scored back after their try - the first time we got to their half, we scored.

I cannot be unhappy with a team where 14 boys were playing for the first time after the final last year.  I'm proud of the application of their hearts and the physical ability to stay in the fight. We should also not underestimate Ulster here.

They were up for it. They were always going to play like that against last year’s champion - credit where credit’s due. 

They kept the ball through a lot of phases without losing it. There's one or two things to be adjusted on our set-piece, which I thought functioned well. The breakdowns were really good. We went through a lot of phases. It's just a little bit unfortunate that we didn't win, but there's a lot to take forward. 

Is this where you expected to be after the first game of the season?

That last minute and a half is finals rugby. You usually get to that stage at the back end of a season, not in the first game. I can even excuse that. I think there was an opportunity and I think we turned it over once or twice. But we weren't allowed to. We didn't get the reward we wanted.

I'm not unhappy, but obviously I'm really disappointed with the result. 

Benetton another big challenge next weekend?

Yes, definitely. This is our main training session tonight because of the short week next week. It's going to be important to make sure that the guys that play next week are fresh and eager to run out at Scotstoun.

I know tonight will hurt, so that will sharpen our senses this week and make sure we get a good product. 

Injury update...

Matt [Fagerson] is the only one. He's got a shot on his hip pointer. Usually it's about a week or two for something like that, but if we’re lucky, he might even recover in time to be in contention next week. 

Again, it's the start of the season. We'll manage the players so that we have them fit and ready for all the games.