Townsend satisfied with good workout at the Stoop
GREGOR Townsend’s farewell tour of the PRO12 and European club rugby got off to a disappointing start, as the Warriors lost narrowly to Harlequins in an entertaining and physical pre-season friendly at the Twickenham Stoop.
“Obviously, I wanted to win it, but it was a good work out for us, and, at this stage of the season, results are not so important,” said Townsend, for whom this will be the last season with the former champions before he succeeds Vern Cotter as Scotland’s head coach.
“I was very happy with the new players,” he continued. “Leonardo [Sarto] scored a good try, but, for me, the really big plus was the way our Academy guys played. Lewis Wynne for instance, showed up well at No 8, against a couple of England caps in their back row, while Scott Cummings and Nick Grigg looked comfortable. I was also impressed by the way D’Arcy Rae stood up against Marler, and, when Zander Fagerson came on, he again showed what he is all about.”
Townsend’s positive approach was mirrored by another of the fringe players given an outing in this game, Fraser Lye. “It was a very physical game, but we were all chomping at the bit to get some action after a hard pre-season,” the full-back said. “We had a lot of possession, scored some good tries and we feel we had the opportunity to win it.
“We are all delighted for Gregor. We can take some reflected glory from his appointment and I am sure he will continue to promote exciting rugby for Scotland. We now want to make his last season with Glasgow a successful one.”
Glasgow certainly did not look out of place on the Stoop. Simone Favaro put them in front in five minutes, finishing off some fierce pressure, but a missed tackle allowed Nick Evans to break through and send Ross Chisholm in for a try which he converted to put Quins in front after 10 minutes.
Midway through the first half, Leonardo Sarto danced over for a try which Rory Clegg converted to put Glasgow back in front. Late in the half, however, another missed tackle allowed Jamie Roberts to
burst clear and gift replacement James Chisholm an unconverted try with his first touch, to make it 12-12 at the break.
The first half was ended early after Nick Grigg sustained a head knock, but fortunately he had recovered by the end.
Richie Vernon came on and nearly scored immediately, leading a foot rush to the Quins line, which ended in a drop-out 22 to the home side. Harlequins then went in front, making their extra man pay after Favaro was yellow-carded, with Mat Luamanu being driven over from a line-out maul. That try was unconverted, as was a reply in kind by Glasgow, Pat McArthur being driven over, while Harlequins had Winston Stanley on the naughty step.
And that’s how it looked likely to stay, until, with four minutes left, Jonas Mikalcius scored another unconverted try for the home side to give them the win.