A Hogg-manay never to forget for Stuart
TREVISO 28 GLASGOW WARRIORS 35 IT was a happy Hogg-manay for the Warriors as they eventually pulled off their Italian smash-and-grab act to take another stride towards the Pro12 title play-offs.
Stuart Hogg celebrated his first appearance at stand-off by inspiring his men to a bonus-point triumph.
He snatched the opening try – then slotted a string of crucial pin-point kicks to snuff out the threat of the stubborn hosts.
The game was in the balance until Hogg calmly converted sub Rory Clegg’s clinching touchdown four minutes from time.
Though it wasn’t Glasgow’s most-polished display of the campaign, boss Gregor Townsend was relieved and delighted as he and his side flew straight back home after the final whistle in time for New Year.
Hogg and Co had been given a wake-up jolt as they let the home troops surge ahead after just two minutes.
A combination of defensive hesitation and a fortunate bounce paved the way for Luca Sperandio to flop over.
The visitors continued to struggle to find fluency.
In particular, they were having problems getting on to the same wavelength as local ref Elia Rizzo.
He had been a last-minute stand-in for Welshman Ben Whitehouse, whose flight from London was fogged off and, at times, the rookie’s inexperience shone through.
But they got the break they needed when Hogg sprinted 80 metres for a nerve-settling try.
And just three minutes later, his Scotland mate Tommy Seymour finished off a slick handling move to add another – both converted by Hogg.
Treviso came back strongly from their double- whammy, but Warriors were reprieved when Tommy Allan sent a simple penalty wide.
They capitalised by racing upfield to set up a try for flanker Adam Ashe after Tim Swinson was hauled down just short.
Ashe returned to the spotlight for the wrong reasons when his wild pass bounced over his own line.
Pete Murchie slipped as he tried to mop up the danger – and Dean Budd nipped in for the scoring touch.
Allan converted – then clipped over a penalty in stoppage time to narrow the gap to six points.
And when he repeated the dose after the restart, Glasgow were back under pressure, brought on by their own sloppiness.
However, centre Nick Grigg got them back on tracks by bursting through three challenges to bag the all- important fourth touchdown.
Hogg continued his fine sequence with the boot, only to see substitute Ian McKinley clawing back three points on the hour-mark.
The warning bells became deafening as McKinley added the extras to Budd’s closerange score.
But Warriors got it right when it mattered most, Rory Clegg twisting over after a great run by Sean Lamont.
ZEBRE 19 EDINBURGH 24 GUTSY Gunners ground out a crucial revenge victory in Parma to kick-start their quest to claim a Pro12 top-six slot.
The capital outfit had been stunned by Zebre at Murrayfield earlier in the campaign – but they turned the tables at the end of a roller-coaster year.
The opening sparring session was jittery and disjointed. However, it was Edinburgh who found some rhythm to break the deadlock with a confidently struck penalty by Duncan Weir.
But his strike merely acted as a cue for the hosts to click into attacking mode.
Centre Tommaso Boni was put into space and he dashed over in the corner. Carlo Canna added the wide-angled conversion to provide his side with a further boost.
The reaction of the Gunners was positive, withWeir finding the target on the half-hour mark to repair some of the damage.
Even better was to come ahead of the interval. Chris Dean was quickest to react when the ball flew loose in the danger zone – and he outpaced his markers to reach the line with ease.
Weir banged over the extras to give the Gunners a six-point cushion.
Dean was back in the spotlight after the restart, setting up a raid with a superblyweighted chip.
Edinburgh kept up the pressure and were rewarded when Will Helu gathered a Blair Kinghorn through ball and cruised over.
The home troops upped the pace at the other end and the contest was blown wide open as playmaker Canna darted through for a try at the start of the final quarter.
Weir retorted with a penalty from an awkward position to restore some breathing space for the capital outfit.
That was the signal for Hodge to make a spate of bench switches in a bid to close out the match.
Weir struck again six minutes from time to make sure. Although Zebre salvaged a lastgasp consolation point as Andries Van Schalkwyk’s score was goaled by Canna.