MUNSTER 10 WARRIORS 25
Glasgow go halfway towards making a point
GLASGOW Warriors head coach Dave Rennie last night admitted to some disappointment in spite of having watched his side continue another winning start to a PRO14 campaign at Scotstoun last night.
He was, of course, highly satisfied with the way they set up a 22-0 lead at the interval with three tries amid a dominant performance, but his men were frustratingly unable to claim the vital fourth that would have brought a bonus point after the break as Munster upped their game.
“I guess I’m the type of coach who’s always looking for areas where we can be a lot better, but I’m really happy with the first half, played at the right end of the field, built pressure, multi-phase and got rewarded for that. In the second half we were forced to defend a lot,” he said.
“We’re really happy with the way we stood up. We were just a little bit loose with ball in hand when we just needed to do what we did first half, just be prepared to go multiphase and then find a crack. But a couple of dusty off-loads and we ended up defending more than we should have.
“You want to pick up bonus points and having three tries first half we should have scored it before half-time, but you’ve got to pay tribute to Munster’s defence too and second half they denied us possession”
Billed as an opportunity for Glasgow to demonstrate that they have toughened up, their pack could hardly have been more dominant in the opening half against the Irishmen who had taken South Africa’s Cheetahs apart the previous weekend.
Long before they started piling up points it was clear that they were in command at the set-piece and while the only points of the opening quarter came from the boot of Peter Horne, who had pushed a straightforward early opportunity wide, but hit the target with his second chance from under the posts, it was only a matter of time.
Admittedly Johan van Graan, Munster’s head coach, had a point post-match when saying it had been a potential turning point when Callum Gibbins stayed on the pitch just before the opening score after a lengthy search of video evidence when it was alleged that the Glasgow’s co-captain had illegally shoulder-charged an opponent at a ruck, but his side had been subject to relentless pressure up to that point.
The breakthrough came in the 22nd minute as an Adam Ashe turnover gave his side the opportunity to put the Munster defence under the cosh once as they had done repeatedly in the opening quarter of the game and they finally buckled. Peter Horne made the first telling impact, punching a hole in their defence before Ashe made his presence felt once again, picking an excellent angle and running powerfully onto a pass from Adam Hastings before returning the ball to the stand-off who had looped around him and, with two overlapping team-mates to choose from, he picked out Callum Gibbins perfectly with double miss pass to send the flanker into the right corner.
Munster captain Bill Holland groggily left the pitch soon afterwards and only moments after his departure Glasgow were pressing again, Hastings once again finding the key to unlocking their defence, this time with a delicate chip in behind the defence, the ball sitting up perfectly for Stuart Hogg to run onto. The full-back had been in the wars early on, requiring treatment for a knee injury before suffering a bloody nose in a collision, but he looked as sharp as ever as he raced through and, Horne having missed a second shot at goal with his attempt to convert the opening try, Hogg took on that responsibility as well to pout his team three scores clear.
If they had earned every point to that stage, they were then gifted the third try which put them in easy street at the break. Munster No.8 Arno Botha had initially looked to have given his side the chance to gain some respite from the pressure in carrying the ball to the edge of his 22, only for JJ Hanrahan to drop Duncan Williams’ pass with two Glasgow forwards bearing down on him and as it bounced over the line Ashe won the race with back-row colleague Ryan Wilson to fall on the loose ball, Hogg converting again.
The contest should have been over and while Munster were lifted by a combination of what was doubtless a stern talking to and their first points soon after from a Hanrahan penalty, that only let the home side an opportunity offer themselves further longer term encouragement as their defensive resilience was challenged. Munster enjoyed most of the possession in the third quarter, but Glasgow withstood all that was thrown at them, notably during a spell which saw them resist more than 20 phases of play at point blank range. They eventually did cross the Glasgow line 10 minutes before the end with Tadgh Beirne, whose introduction for his debut had contributed to a much-improved performance by the Munster pack, playing a major part in the build-up, before fellow replacement Rhys Marshall ploughed his way over.
In his last act before leaving the pitch rather gingerly, Hogg re-established a threescore lead with a penalty strike, allowing his colleagues to focus on what was ultimately a futile pursuit of a fourth try and a bonus point.