Seven-try stroll for Warriors
GLASGOW still face an uphill battle to get into the PRO12 play-offs, but they will attempt the ascent with a spring in their step after this comprehensive victory. A first-half double from Nick Grigg got the Warriors on top, after the Dragons had gone 10-0 up, and once they were ahead there was no stopping Gregor Townsend’s side. Although the match was still in the balance at the break, there was only one team in it in the second half, as five more tries followed, securing the Warriors a five-point win.
“If we could get six or seven points, it would be even more helpful,” the head coach said. “We know we’ve got a lot of ground to catch up and we’re relying on teams above us to lose. Obviously the teams above us will have to play each other and we’ve got to play a couple of them as well.
“It was just great to finish this series with a win and a lot of positive play.”
The Warriors have a three-week break before their next game, at home to Connacht, but they should have at least some of their first-choice internationals back by then. After that, they play Munster, Zebre, Leinster and Edinburgh, and realistically need to win at least four to have a chance of getting into the top quartet.
“We do have some tough matches,” Townsend accepted. “But we’ll have some reinforcements coming back. If we play with that intent and keep working to improve our defensive side, we’ll be a real challenge for the teams that are playing us.”
A result as lopsided as this could hardly have been foreseen at the end of the first quarter when the Dragons, for whom Angus O’Brien had opened the scoring with a penalty, claimed the first try of the game through Rynard Landman. The lock had finished off an attack sparked by scrum-half Sarel Pretorius, but appeared to have grounded the ball short of the line. After a TV review, however, referee Andrew Brace awarded the score, and O’Brien’s conversion took the visitors into double figures.
Glasgow upped their game five minutes later through Grigg. The centre’s first attempt to cross the line was thwarted when Pretorius dispossessed him then rolled over his own line to concede a scrum five, but he could not be stopped from the resultant set-piece, thrusting his way through three would-be tacklers.
Grigg owed his second to elusive running. Getting possession some 35 metres from the opposition line, he squeezed through the first line of defence and headed on a diagonal run, wrongfooting the last would-be tackler with a swift change of direction.
Pete Horne converted both Grigg’s tries to give the half-time score a far healthier complexion at 14-10, but Glasgow suffered a setback a minute before the break when Richie Vernon went down injured. The No 8 seemed to catch a foot on the surface and after brief treatment was replaced by Scott Cummings.
Having taken the initiative, the Warriors were in no mood to give it up, and the second half was only a few minutes old when Rory Hughes extended their lead with another strong run through the middle. Horne converted again. Before the restart, Ratu Tagive came on for his home debut in place of Hughes, who had been carrying a knock.
The Australian wasted little time in making an impact, scoring the try that brought up the bonus point with his first touch. The referee had been playing advantage when, after another excellent break by Grigg, Corey Flynn was halted within a few metres of the line by a high tackle. Fed by Henry Pyrgos from the bottom of a ruck, Horne picked out Tagive with a well-weighted punt, and the winger strolled over.
Lee Jones then celebrated his 50th appearance and his new contract by getting on to the scoresheet, finishing off a move that had worked its way across the face of goal. Horne missed his conversion attempt for the only time in the game, but such minor blemishes were irrelevant with the game well won. There were still 15 minutes to play when Mark Bennett got his team’s sixth try, using his speed to outstrip a despairing defence.
The conversion from Horne made it 30 unanswered points from 10-0 down, and the stand-off added another seven points five minutes from time by finishing off another break.
Tyler Morgan scored a consolation try, converted by Dorian Jones, but there were few encouraging signs for the league’s third-bottom team. Glasgow, by contrast, after ending a run of three defeats, have at least given themselves a glimmer of hope as they approach the run-in to the campaign.