ULTIMATE WARRIORS
Glasgow make it three wins from three with victory in Cardiff
GLASGOW WARRIORS rode their luck at the death when Cardiff Blues outside half Steve Shingler missed a penalty 90 seconds from time, but still clung on to notch a third successive Guinness Pro14 win.
It means new head coach Dave Rennie’s side are keeping pace with Munster at the top of Conference A and after winning twice on the road this month can look forward to making up for last season’s disappointment of failing to reach the play-offs.
While Shingler was waiting for the ground to open up and swallow him at the final whistle, his opposite number Finn Russell was able to reflect on a near perfect night as he kicked everything and conjured up a try.
Having lost to Edinburgh at home and Leinster away in their opening two fixtures, Cardiff Blues were determined to stop the rot and flew into Glasgow in an attempt to upset their rhythm and turn the game into a dogfight. They certainly succeeded in the first half.
Despite enjoying all the territory and pressure in the opening exchanges, Glasgow found themselves trailing by ten points in almost as many minutes as the Blues preyed on the many mistakes that cropped up in a game that was played at breakneck pace.
Josh Navidi, standing in for injured Welsh internationals Ellis Jenkins and Sam Warburton in the No 7 jersey for the home side, latched onto a wayward Glasgow line-out on their ten-metre line and drove the ball up to the 22.
Quick ball allowed the Blues half-backs to spread the play wide and Tom James appeared off the left wing on the right hand side before simply cutting through some woeful tackling to race 25 metres to the try line. Shingler stepped up to strike the conversion and then added a penalty four minutes later to stretch the home lead to 10 points after the Glasgow scrum folded in a heap.
The response was quick from the visitors though. Ruaridh Jackson put the Blues on the back foot with a great kick deep into the home 22 and from the line-out Glasgow won a penalty which Russell slotted to reduce the gap.
When Glasgow were penalised once more for offside near their 10 metre line Shingler stepped up to fire home another penalty. Warriors needed to put their foot on the ball and slow things down.
A great break up the middle by new signing Callum Gibbins set up a ruck 35 metres out that allowed skipper Henry Pyrgos to attack the blindside and then stay in support of a left touchline raid that ended with the scrum half scoring a vital try. Russell added the extras and the gap was cut to just three points at the break.
The Warriors needed to cut down on their errors, get more fluency into their play and sort out their scrum in the second half, but it only took a minute before the Blues extended their lead courtesy of another sloppy penalty given away for midfield obstruction.
Shingler needed no second invitation to land his fourth successful kick of a damp night, but moments later the visitors were ahead. From the restart the Blues cleared from their 22 with a Lloyd Williams box kick which Wales wing Alex Cuthbert chased hard.
He rose to challenge for the ball on half-way, but Russell plucked it out of the air, beat the covering defence and then slipped a delightful scoring pass inside to Lee Jones for a try. It was another moment of pure class from Russell and gave the Warriors a one-point advantage.
It didn’t last long, though, as another silly breakdown penalty 30 metres out after a Lloyd Williams bust gave Shingler the chance to edge the Blues back in front. The mass changes in the front row had a major impact on the balance of power at scrum time. 12 minutes from time Glasgow earned their first penalty of the night in that area some 35 metres out from the posts.
Up stepped Russell and, cool as you like, he knocked over the penalty that made it 20-19.
Ironically, it was the Blues who had one final shot to win the game when they picked up a scrum penalty for twisting by the Glasgow pack. Shingler hadn’t missed with his previous five kicks, but he shanked the one that mattered most and the Warriors were able to hang on for victory.