Coachwilson is full of praise for battling Warriors’character
GLASGOW WARRIORS 13 LIONS 9 Glasgow coach Danny Wilson last night praised the character shown by his team in defence after they held on against the Lions to make it two wins out of three in the URC.
The Warriors dominated yesterday’s first half and could have been out of sight. But, after only managing one try, they had to dig deep in the second 40 as conditions worsened.
They got there in the end, though, and Wilson was delighted by how well they fought right to the death against opponents who always looked dangerous.
“Our character defensively in our own 22 was much better than last week,” he said, referring to the home win against the Sharks that saw his side struggle late in the game after dominating the first 50 minutes.
“We worked harder and kept the opposition out.
“We played so well in the first half and created so much. But it was a little bit forced with the offloads.
“We were trying to force the issue when we should have been more patient.
“In the second half, the weather came in and there were more scrums. We didn’t want that, because we knew the scrum was a really powerful weapon for them.
“The game died a death a little bit in the second half, a little bit like last week. But we looked really dangerous in the first half.
“The character element of it was pleasing. We had to dig in. We could have folded a little bit at the end, but we didn’t.
“We dug in and got the win – and that’s 11 points from the first three games.
“We’ve gone to Ulster and played two big South African teams who we didn’t know much about. So it’s a good start.”
The game in Belfast ended in defeat, but the Warriors got two bonus points from it. Combined with the two victories that have followed, it has made for a really positive start to the new season.
With a match against Zebre to come next weekend, they seem to have every chance of getting another win under their belts before thoughts turn to the more difficult match against Leinster in the last game before the international break.
It was prop forward Jamie Bhatti, celebrating his 50th appearance for the team, who got the scoreboard ticking over with a second-minute try after a penalty had been kicked to touch.
Stand-off Ross Thompson converted, but two penalties from EW Viljoen either side of one from the Glasgow No. 10 kept the visitors in touch at half-time.
The Lions looked a lot stronger early in the second half than they had been for most of the first, and when one of their attacks was ended by a high tackle from Jack Dempsey, Viljoen was on target again with the boot to make it just 10-9 to the Warriors.
Another Viljoen penalty attempt from a metre inside his own half fell short.
Glasgow fought back, and when they were awarded a penalty deep inside the opposition half, Thompson made no mistake.
There were still eight minutes to play at that point, and the Lions still threatened to snatch the game away from Glasgow. But, urged on by a vociferous crowd, the Warriors defence held out to complete a narrow but deserved victory.
EDINBURGH 20 STORMERS 20
It looked like lightning was going to strike twice when Stormers stand-off Tim Swiel lined-up an injurytime drop-goal to clinch a dramatic win for the visitors at the DAM Health Stadium last night.
Edinburgh lost to Benetton last weekend in exactly the same circumstances – but, fortunately for Mike Blair’s side, Swiel’s shot at goal sailed harmlessly to the right of the posts.
A draw means the capital side picked up two league points from this contest, which could be useful in the shakedown at the end of this United Rugby Championship season.
But their chief emotion will be frustration at letting a golden opportunity to claim a bonuspoint win slip through their fingers.
Stormers had lost their opening two matches in this United Rugby Championship and with their
international players currently unavailable, this really is the sort of home game the capital outfit needs to be winning.
Edinburgh’s record after three league games played so far this season is one win, one draw and one loss – which is hardly championship winning form.
The hosts raced out of the blocks and into a 14-0 lead inside the first six minutes, with stand-off Jaco van der Walt twice splitting the Stormers wide open with some nice dummying.
On the first occasion, he sent winger Darcy Graham scampering home for try number one, and on the second occasion it was scrum-half Ben Vellacott who capitalised, with Van der Walt converting successfully on both occasions.
It was frantic stuff, but Edinburgh couldn’t sustain it and Stormers got a foothold in the match when Evan Roos and
Brok Harris did well to tidy up a loose ball on the home team’s 22, before Scarra Ntubeni sent Warrick Gelant in for the try.
Tim Swiel converted, then added a penalty after Edinburgh were punished for swimming up the side of a line-out drive.
A Van der Walt penalty briefly opened the gap back up to seven points but Stormers then squared it when Roos strolled through a yawning gap in midfield and sent Paul de Wet under the posts.
Some amateur dramatics from home centre James Lang – who earned his team a penalty by going down like a sack of potatoes after colliding with a Stormers player as he chased the restart – gave Van der Walt a straightforward shot at goal, which nudged Edinburgh back in front.
But the hosts had lost that early match buzz and an offside penalty allowed Swiel to square it again just before the break.
The third-quarter of this game was an arm-wrestle and there wasn’t another scoring opportunity until the hour mark, when van der Walt had a 45-yard shot at goal from a scrum penalty – but his effort fell short meaning the deadlock remained.
Then it was the Stormers’ turn
to pass up an opportunity to take the initiative, with Swiel pushing his shot at goal to the right of the posts after Dave Cherry was penalised for going off is feet as he contested for the ball at a ruck.
The weather had deteriorated and with both teams seeming to be more concerned about avoiding a loss rather than claiming a win, the game became a war of attrition.
There was some late drama when Swiel attempted that dropgoal, but it wasn’t to be for the visitors.
A draw was probably a fair result.