Warriors edge Blues in high-scoring cliffhanger

Now Glasgow coach Rennie looks forward to crunch clash with Connacht

CARDIFF BLUES 34 GLASGOW WARRIORS 38

Emotionally drained Warriors boss Dave Rennie reckons his side’s entire season will be defined over the next few weeks.

He issued his verdict after watching Glasgow edge out the Blues in the most dramatic and crazy of roller-coaster encounters.

It was more like a Harlem Globetrotters training match than a crucial Pro14 clash as the teams shared 10 tries.

And Rennie was left to thank Pete Horne for his pinpoint kicking.

The coach declared: “We are in second place in our section, closely behind Munster.

“But as the last five minutes of this match showed, you can’t afford to look too far ahead. Our next handful of games are hugely important, starting with Connacht at Scotstoun next weekend.

“If we get it right, we’re in a good spot as we will open up more space between us and them.

“And then we travel to Italy before hosting the Cheetahs.

“These are all teams in our conference so if we can pick up some points, we will be denying the opposition and we’ll be in a good place.”

Warriors surged into a 17 point lead, only to let the Blues storm back strongly.

And in the end, Rennie’s brigade clung on for dear life.

He added: “We have faced Cardiff four times this season and on each occasion we’ve got off to a flier and they’ve stormed it in the second half, so it wasn’t unexpected.

“We’re frustrated because at times we tackled really poorly but I think for a big chunk of the game our attack was really good and so was theirs. It must have been a hell of a spectacle for the neutrals.

“We’re obviously missing a lot of guys through injury and international commitments but we’re really happy with how this group of guys stood up.

“It’s a log jam behind us in the table and a loss would have put us back in the pack and under pressure. So it gives us a bit of breathing space.”

The frantic nature of the encounter was encapsulated in the final five minutes.

A try by sub Nick Frisby had appeared to put the Warriors well out of reach.

But the nerves began to jangle when Cardiff speed merchant Aled Summerhill completed his hat-trick.

David Tameilau hit back with his first score for the Warriors and seconds later Garyn Smith went over for the home outfit, leaving Glasgow to cling on grimly in the remaining seconds.

Dave Rennie, above, was grateful to Pete Horne, top, for his excellent kicking.