Glasgow Warriors take bonus point win at Scotstoun

Tries from BKT Player of the Match Fergus Watson, Dan Lancaster, Jack Singleton and Ollie Smith gave the hosts a bonus-point triumph to cap an unbeaten first block of fixtures, Franco Smith’s men moving top of the BKT United Rugby Championship standings for 24 hours at least.

On a perfect evening for rugby under the Friday night lights, it was the Warriors who thought they’d opened the scoring with just five minutes played. An interception at the tail of the lineout from Singleton saw the hooker race towards the line, before the ball was recycled wide for Bayley Kuenzle. The winger pinned his ears back in the race for the corner, but was dragged into touch just a metre from the line.

The opening try would go the way of the hosts, however, as the men in black crossed in style with 11 minutes gone. Slick work from the scrum freed Kuenzle out wide, the winger racing up to the 22. Quickly recycled ball then allowed Lancaster to pick out Watson with a pinpoint cross-field kick, who in turn shrugged off the attempted tackle and sprinted over for the try. George Horne converted, and the Warriors led 7-0.

Chris Smith would get the Lions on the board just a couple of minutes later, making no mistake from the tee after Glasgow were penalised at the ruck to narrow the deficit to four points. Indeed it could have been even better for the visitors were it not for a try-saving tackle from Jare Oguntibeju, the second-rower getting back superbly to deny Francke Horn a counter-attacking score.

Instead, the next score would belong to Glasgow. Euan Ferrie’s power in the carry saw the number eight get the offload away to Lancaster, who in turn fed Horne on his shoulder. The scrum-half was stopped five metres out, but his offload found Lancaster on the switch line to send the fly-half under the posts. Horne converted once more, extending his side’s lead to 14-3 with half an hour gone.

More was to come before the break, as the Warrior Nation raised their volume once more with four minutes remaining in the half. Horne was the catalyst, the scrum-half sniping his way into the 22 and finding Singleton on his shoulder. There was no stopping the hooker on his sprint for the line, marking his debut with a try that gave his new side a 19-3 lead as the half-time whistle sounded.

Knowing the next score could prove crucial, the Lions came out of the blocks firing in the second half as they sought a foothold in proceedings. It arrived after 50 minutes, as wave upon wave of pressure in the Glasgow 22 allowed Morne van den Berg to dart over from close range. Boeta Chamberlain added the extras, and the Lions had narrowed the deficit to nine points.

An increasingly stop-start half continued to be balanced on a knife-edge, with the next opportunity coming courtesy of Watson. The winger’s scintillating break saw the youngster beat countless defenders on his path to the line before being dragged down just short, Max Williamson then held up by the Lions defence as he surged towards the whitewash.

Instead, the next score went to the South African side, albeit somewhat against the run of play. Despite the Warrior Nation appealing that Watson was taken out in the air, an interception on the Glasgow 22 allowed Siba Mahashe to sprint over in the corner, the conversion falling short to leave the deficit at four points.

With momentum on their side, the Lions would hit the lead for the first time with 10 minutes to play. Repeated penalties in Glasgow territory eventually allowed Morne Brandon to be driven over from a five-metre maul, the conversion once again off target to leave the scoreline reading 20-19 to the visitors as the game entered the closing stages.

Yet as the tension ramped up inside Scotstoun, the Warriors rallied. Phase upon phase of pressure in Lions territory eventually yielded the desired result, a beauty of a pass from Stafford McDowall giving Smith sight of the try-line. The full-back calmly stepped inside the last defender before diving over for the score, Horne slotting the conversion for a six-point lead.

The final word would belong to the hosts, as the Warrior Nation rose to acclaim their side with the clock ticking into the red. One final strike of Horne’s boot saw the scrum-half slot a penalty from 35 metres to apply the finishing touch, the final whistle sounding to bring the curtain down on proceedings – and on an unbeaten opening block of fixtures.