WONDERFUL WARRIORS ARE TOO HOT TO HANDLE

Glasgow are smiles better for Rennie as they topple Munster

GLASGOW Warriors head coach Davie Rennie usually displays his poker face in defeat and victory but even he couldn’t stop smiling after the best performance of his short reign at the club.

It was hard to believe that Glasgow had lost four times out of four to Munster last season considering the way they bossed this game. At a sold-out Scotstoun they were in never in danger of losing again.

Any talk of the Irish province being their bogey side can now be consigned to the history books after an impressive bonuspoint win that takes them top of Conference A in the new Pro14 league set-up.

‘I’ve been a bit grumpy over the past few weeks, but that was quality,’ said Rennie. ‘We used the ball really well and built pressure and defended really well. We put them under pressure from turnover ball. It was great.

‘There’s a long way to go, but we made some good strides tonight.

‘We needed to against a very strong Munster side. We want to make this place a fortress and we made a statement against them.

‘The word brutal was used by us in terms of the need to be physical against them and we did exactly that, which was pleasing.’

Fly-half Finn Russell ran the show for the home side and praised his forwards for creating the platform to allow him to pull the strings in what was indeed a brutal game.

It spilled over to the extent referee Nigel Owens had to call both sides to him to warn them of their behaviour after a mass brawl on the pitch.

‘We knew how physical Munster are and knew we had to match them in that area which we did,’ said Scotland international Russell.

‘We didn’t let ourselves get pushed back at the start of the match and we started with authority and that continued throughout the whole game. We were powerful against them and have to continue like that against other teams this year.’

An early try from man-of-thematch Leonardo Sarto in just four minutes set the tone for a pulsating eighty minutes of rugby.

Another touchdown from Lee Jones four minutes before the break and another five minutes after the interval from Nick Grigg put them on easy street.

A score from second row Scott Cummings after great work from Sarto with fifteen minutes left secured the bonus that was so richly deserved.

The fourth straight win which kept up Glasgow’s 100 per cent record was achieved without the likes of the injured Scotland internationals Stuart Hogg, Jonny Gray, Tommy Seymour and Fraser Brown who watched the match from the stands.

It is frightening to think how good the Warriors could be once that quartet are back in the fray.

Munster were never in the game and quite rightly had replacement Fineen Wycherley sent off with five minutes left for a shoulder charge that connected with the head of Tim Swinson.

Glasgow controlled the game from first to last despite losing winger Rory Hughes, who had to go off with a head knock and shoulder injury to be replaced by Sarto after just two minutes.

In his first contribution Sarto scored a superb try following a pass from Peter Horne. Although he had two defenders to beat, he managed to get past them both to score. Russell put over the extras.

A Russell penalty after Munster were penalised for playing the ball on the ground extended the lead for Glasgow.

The next score came from a rare Munster attack when Darren Sweetnam set Rory Scannell away to score in the corner.

It then all kicked off when Rhys Marshall was penalised for a no-arms tackle on Callum Gibbins. It led to a melee involving nearly every player apart from Sarto who was receiving treatment for a leg injury.

Once things had cooled down referee Owens took the unusual step of speaking to all 30 players to warn them to be on their best behaviour.

When Stephen Archer took out Ryan Wilson in the air it allowed Russell the chance to secure another three points.

Glasgow increased the lead with a fantastic try. Ruaridh Jackson released Gibbins who ran up the touchline before playing in Jones.

Russell put over the extras and the 15-point half time lead illustrated Glasgow’s ability to take their chances.

Two minutes after the break Billy Holland was yellow-carded for killing the ball. Three minutes later Glasgow increased their lead after a superb move.

A long pass from Horne found Jackson. He managed to play the ball inside and although Jones failed to collect, it fell to Grigg who crashed over to score.

In the 47th minute Munster got a try back when Chris Farrell intercepted a stray pass and raced in to score for the 14 men.

Glasgow came close five minutes before the hour when Swinson lost control when he tried to touch the ball down. Glasgow didn’t come away empty-handed, though, as a minute later Russell put over a penalty.

With fifteen minutes left Sarto helped set up the bonus point try. He broke through four tackles before feeding lock Cummings who touched down. Russell put over the extras.

The red card issued to Wycherley near the end met with no complaints from the Munster players who were simply desperate to hear the final whistle sound.

SCORERS: GLASGOW — Tries: Sarto, Jones, Grigg, Cummings. Cons: Russell (4). Pens: Russell (3). MUNSTER — Tries: R Scannell, Farrell.