Warriors put wind up Welsh for key victory
GLASGOW Warriors returned to the top of the Guinness Pro12 l ast night after second- half tries from Peter Murchie and DTH van der Merwe blew Scarlets away at a wet and windy Scotstoun.
It helped exorcise some of the demons from last week’s defeat to Edinburgh and, with the Ospreys not playing the Dragons until t omorrow, i t means Gregor Townsend’s men are at the summit for at least 36 hours.
Alex Dunbar’s try had given Glasgow the lead but the visitors were ahead at the break after Liam Williams’ try was converted by Rhys Priestland.
The hosts never looked back, however, after Murchie and replacement van der Merwe sealed the deal in the second period as they defied stormy conditions.
Scarlets had the wind at their backs in the first half and, within 30 seconds, they had caused the Warriors to make an error in their own 22.
Full- back Murchie was the culprit as he knocked the ball on, but t o Glasgow’s r eli ef t he Scarlets second-row Jake Ball did the same moments later and the visitors’ early chance had gone.
After some good work by their forwards and a break by winger Tommy Seymour, the Warriors earned the game’s first kickable penalty in the seventh minute.
However, stand-off Finn Russell’s attempt from out left drifted right across the face of the posts and the game remained scoreless.
Fijian scrum-half Niko Matawalu then warmed up the home fans with a superbly taken quick tap f rom his own half and, after making 30 metres, his pass was destined for Seymour only for Scarlets’ winger Hadleigh Parkes to intercept and avert the danger.
The Scarlets then had two chances to get their first points of the evening, but stand- off Priestland missed both penalties.
In the 23rd minute, Warriors captain Josh Strauss thought he had scored the game’s first try but, after watching the television replay, referee George Clancy could not be sure of the grounding.
The breakthrough was only to be delayed by four minutes, though. Russell’s pass put winger Sean Lamont in space and, although he was caught by a defender five metres from the l i ne, he still managed to switch the ball to centre Dunbar, who went over for the score.
Russell’s conversion attempt again got caught by the wind, but the points seem to give the Warriors a boost and, minutes later, Seymour kicked a superb loose ball into Scarlets’ territory.
Although t he chance was ultimately wasted, the home side had their opponents rattled.
Matawalu, as he often does, was also trying to liven things up and another quick tap penalty from t he Bath- bound star nearly created another opportunity.
However, he was the villain just before the interval when his pass was i ntercepted by Scarlets’ full-back Williams and he ran in a try from 30 metres.
With Priestland converting, the Welsh had a 7-5 lead at half-time. The Warriors made two changes at t he break, props Jerry Yanuyanuyawa and Mike Cusack — the latter having made his first home appearance for 26 months — being replaced by Ryan Grant and Euan Murray.
And they scored their second try of the night in the 45th minute.
After superb work from captain Strauss, Murchie went in at the corner. After the TMO had a look to check the grounding, the score was awarded and Russell nailed the conversion from the touchline to make it 12-7.
The try was Murchie’s first of the season and, with Stuart Hogg possibly out for an extended period through injury, he will be keen to get a run of games at No 15.
The Scarlets were then dealt a blow when try scorer Williams was forced off through injury.
Lamont also had to go off for the Warriors with a niggle, Canadian winger van der Merwe coming on as his replacement.
Soon after the hour mark, Russell kicked a penalty to put his side 15-7 to the good and then, with 10 minutes to go, replacement van der Merwe got the clinching try.
Russell converted it and at 22-7 all that was left was to see if the Warriors could get the allimportant bonus-point fourth try.
They huffed and puffed in their pursuit of it, but it never came.
In these conditions, however, a win was the most important part on an evening when Strauss was named Man of the Match.