Italian job done as Hogg’s magic keeps Warriors title hopes alive
GLASGOW WARRIORS head coach Gregor Townsend reckons his side have opened up a window of opportunity after completing part one of their Italian job.
The Pro12 champions strengthened their bid to defend their title with a six-try victory at Benetton Treviso, after the Scarlets lost ground in defeat to the Cardiff Blues.
First-half scores from Jonny Gray and Peter Horne put Glasgow into the ascendancy, but they were reined in by a try from Angelo Esposito and the boot of Jayden Hayward.
However, a secondhalf blitz saw them home. Simone Favaro crashed over against his old team before some Stuart Hogg magic.
Grayson Hart and James Malcolm wrapped up a crucial win ahead of next week’s clash at Zebre.
‘We saw the Scarlets’ result at half-time,’ said Townsend. ‘We realise we have a big opportunity now going into Zebre next week.
‘If we play well and get the win we can move above them before they play next week.
‘It will be a big squad effort now. The guys who were away with Scotland have been fantastic. People only see it in games but I get to see it every day.’
A Favaro drive set up captain Gray, who burst through to score after 12 minutes.
Some of Glasgow’s hard work was undone from kick-off when they went offside and gave Hayward an easy three-point penalty, before he cut the gap to one with another strike.
But a moment of quick thinking from scrum-half Henry Pyrgos put Glasgow back in driving seat in 30 minutes.
He opted for the quick-tap penalty from 40 metres out and sprinted to within a yard of the line, and Horne was in support to pick the ball up at the back of a ruck and dive over.
Finn Russell converted to give the visitors a 14-6 lead.
However, Glasgow let their lead slip again four minutes before half-time. Esposito put centre Tommaso Iannone into space, and was in the right place at the right time to receive the ball back for an easy run-in.
And the Italians took a 16-14 lead in at the interval with another penalty after Pyrgos pulled a Treviso player back off the ball.
However, after the break a moment of magic from Hogg allowed Favaro to claim his long-awaited score.
Scotland full-back Hogg danced around three defenders before slipping a backhand offload to the flanker, who just had to fall over the line. Russell duly converted.
With 20 minutes left, Hogg showed his class to clinch the crucial bonus-point try.
The ball was worked wide to the full-back, who hitch-kicked past Marco Fuser before sprinting past Luke McLean en route to the try-line for 26-16 to the Glasgow men.
Russell smacked the post with his conversion attempt, but Hart wrapped up the victory 13 minutes from time with a clever snipe in the corner, before Malcolm put the icing on the victory.