Strip row overshadows Glasgow’s Euro win against Cardiff
● Young stand-off provides the spark as Warriors open their account in Pool 3 with impressive win
Glasgow Warriors enjoyed an impressive 29-12 away win over Cardiff Blues in the European Champions Cup yesterday but an apparent kit clash sparked an angry outburst from the defeated home side, writes David Barnes.
Cardiff full-back Gareth Anscombe demanded someone be held accountable.
“That was a disgrace – an out-and-out disgrace,” Anscombe said. “Rugby is a hard enough game. I have never come across that in my eight years of playing [professional] rugby.
“I caught a couple of high balls and, in that sun, in a split second, it was tough to differentiate your team-mates – it’s a joke. We told the ref and the touchies early on and they told us it was down to the home team to change jerseys but I don’t think
A bonus-point victory over a surprisingly flat Blues outfit in the Welsh capital yesterday afternoon put Glasgow Warriors’ quest to make the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup this season back on track and, in the process, extinguished some of the frustration of last week’s agonising defeat by Saracens. Dave Rennie’s men face Lyon – who have lost both their games in Pool 3 so far – in a double-header at the start of December, knowing that a couple more four-try wins will put them in a great position to qualify for the last eight as one of the best secondplaced teams in the group stage.
Realistically, they will almost certainly have to defeat Saracens at Allianz Park in their final pool match to guarantee top place – which is a real long shot – but all told they are in pretty good shape.
Adam Hastings was named man-of-the match for his ambition and imagination with the ball in hand.
He has an impetuous streak which head coach Rennie is hoping he gets better at controlling with experience, but his ability to open teams up
with his eye for a gap and sleight-of-hand makes him a handful for any side he goes up against. The 22-year-old stand-off sparked and finished the first try which was scored before the match was 90-seconds old, with his flat pass sending Matt Fagerson up the middle of the park, and his courage to back himself to drive for the line from five yards out a few phases later getting the desired result.
The Warriors then went two tries up within four minutes of the start with Fraser Brown and Huw Jones combining to send DTH van der Merwe streaking down the left touchline and over for the score.
The rattled Blues managed to recover some composure and, with their scrum on top, they had the better of both possession and territory through the remainder of the first half, but couldn’t find the same cutting edge as the Warriors had demonstrated during that breathless opening five minutes.
Hastings made it 0-15 with a penalty after Blues were punished
for not rolling away, and then a heroic tackle by Warriors centre Sam Johnson on the giant Blues No 8 Nick Williams dislodged the ball and derailed a promising opportunity for the Welshmen to grasp a lifeline just before the break.
Just as they had done in the first half, though, Warriors came flying out the blocks after the restart, with van der Merwe motoring past the Blues’ midfield defence before releasing Ali Price for try number three.
Aled Summerhill pulled a try back for the Blues after a good break from Gareth Anscombe and that injected a bit of impetus to the home team’s efforts, but Glasgow
stood resolute in the face of 20 minutes of fairly constant pressure before the bonuspoint try was achieved, with Hastings heavily involved once again. He ran the ball out from his own 22, and then – after van der Merwe, Huw Jones and George Horne had kept the move going – the stand-off appeared on the scenes again to send a grubber kick through for Fagerson to gather and feed Jonny Gray for an unchallenged charge to the line.
There was a brief wait while the referee asked the TMO if Fagerson had been in front of the kicker, but the video evidence did not corroborate this theory and the try stood.
Slick hands from a scrum put Summerhill in for his – and his team’s – second try with three minutes to go, with Anscombe adding the conversion.
But the contest was well and truly over by this point of the game.