Glasgow tear strip off Cardiff Blues
Glasgow ignore the clash of colours to seal win
THE clash of kits was this game’s main talking point, but it was Glasgow who left Cardiff feeling blue as the Warriors got their Heineken Champions Cup campaign back on track with a priceless win.
A four-try, bonus-point success was just what the doctor ordered for Dave Rennie. After a 13-3 home defeat to Saracens on the opening weekend, Glasgow needed something from their trip to the Welsh capital. They surpassed expectations, playing some fine rugby to seal a deserved success.
Both teams wore very similar light blue strips and it made for a farcical encounter, not that Rennie will care a jot after his team scored two tries in the first four minutes to get off to a fine start. Man-of-the-match Adam Hastings and DTH van der Merwe were the scorers. In the second half, Ali Price and Jonny Gray made it an afternoon to remember as Hastings ran the show.
‘I spoke to our team manager about the kits at half-time,’ Rennie said. ‘From a counter-attack point of view, we had Tommy Seymour bringing the ball back and he wasn’t sure where the holes were.
‘The kit data gets sent in and they looked at the colours and said there was no clash. I’m not sure about that and we would have been more than happy to bring our black kit along.
‘But I’m not sure it had a massive effect. We are happy to have come here and got five points. It was an excellent start and we were clinical early on. To score 12 points in four minutes set the tone. We also defended really well.’
While Glasgow travelled home happy, Cardiff were furious at the kit mix-up. Their full-back — Wales star Gareth Anscombe — branded it a ‘disgrace’ and called on European rugby bosses to front up in the wake of the mess.
‘It was a disgrace. I don’t know who the guy’s job is to decide that, but he has got to face consequences for it,’ Anscombe said.
‘It’s sunny and rugby is a hard enough game. I’ve never come across that in eight years of rugby.
‘Who is making those decisions? It was tough to differentiate who was on your team. It’s a joke and really disappointing. We told the referee and the touch judges early on. They told us it was down to the home team to change, but I don’t think that’s fair. Glasgow should have been wearing a white jersey.
‘EPCR need to put their hand up because it has annoyed me. How, in this day and age, it happened is bewildering to me. It should have been one team in blue, one in white. It’s not hard.’
Under Champions Cup rules, each team submits two kits for the tournament. Two weeks before each game, EPCR tells the sides involved which they will wear.
It’s then up to those two sides to highlight any potential issues.
On this occasion, none was raised, but the kit clash was immediately noticeable, not that the Warriors seemed overly confused as they made an electric start. They were ahead with just 90 seconds on the clock.
No 8 Matt Fagerson smashed his way into space and when the ball was recycled back right, Hastings ghosted through a gap and escaped a desperate Anscombe tackle attempt to just make it to the line. Just two minutes later, an even better away score arrived.
Superb hands from the Glasgow backs had the Cardiff defence at sixes and sevens, Huw Jones delivering the crucial pass and sending flying Van der Merwe away.
Hastings’ conversion made it 12-0 and left a strong home crowd stunned. The Warriors were helped by their opponents coughing up the ball. Four set-piece positions were all thrown away by the hosts.
It allowed Glasgow — who spent 15 minutes in their own half — to escape without conceding a point and before the half hour they were further clear.
Nick Williams was penalised at the breakdown by Luke Pearce and Hastings stepped up to kick the goal from range.
Glasgow’s impressive defence suffocated Cardiff. The home attack, which has been devastating at times this season and helped them blow Lyon away in round one, was blunted and predictable. It forced them into a series of aimless kicks, but Glasgow were determined not to concede.
Sam Johnson — on his first appearance of the season — summing that up with a superb low tackle on Nick Williams before the break after Tomos Williams and Dillon Lewis led the Blues charge.
Glasgow put the game to bed early in the second half. It was another fine Warriors try as they breached the home defence on the outside.
Van der Merwe was again involved, with Hastings spreading the ball wide. Van der Merwe received the ball and arced around Jarrod Evans and into space.
Price — running an expert scrumhalf support line — was the beneficiary as he was given an easy finish. Hastings converted.
It prompted the Blues to finally get going. Fly-half Evans saw space in behind, chipped ahead, and Aled Summerhill raced on to the ball to score. Anscombe’s touchline kick drifted narrowly wide. Home captain Ellis Jenkins was forced off after struggling to recover from a niggling shoulder injury. Blues continued to search for a comeback, but they were undone by a stunning fourth Glasgow try.
From their five-metre line, the Warriors went the length of the field with Hastings leading the break. When the fly-half got back on the ball, he chipped ahead, Fagerson picked up, and Gray finished it off.
Hastings converted and even though there was still time for Summerhill to get his second after being set-up by Matthew Morgan, the Blues couldn’t recover. Rennie reserved special praise for the excellent Hastings after his team moved second in Pool Three.
Next up is Lyon on back-to-back weekends in December.
‘We are really happy with Adam. He is really dangerous with ball in hand,’ Rennie said. SCORERS; Cardiff Blues: Tries — Summerhill
(2) Con — Anscombe. Glasgow Warriors: Tries — Hastings, Van der Merwe, Price, Gray. Cons: Hastings (3). Pen — Hastings.