Wilson’s men dig deep to move up to second
URC Glasgow 13 Benetton 3
THIS was a match for the purists, but Danny Wilson’s Warriors got what they needed out of it to climb to second in the United Rugby Championship table.
They will drop to third if Ulster get a result at the Dragons this afternoon, but they will not be losing too much sleep over that, because they have got themselves into a position where they only need to focus on their own game and not worry about what is going on elsewhere in the race to qualify for the play-offs.
Having now won three wins on the bounce without their front-line Scotland players they can look forward to the run-in to the end of the season with justified self-belief.
A bonus-point would have been nice, but against a determined opposition and in heavy rain, that was probably asking too much.
“First of all, it was difficult conditions,” said Wilson. “But it’s another win at home which is the most important thing and a chance to move up the league.
“The positive was our defensive performance, which was outstanding. We kept them out really well.
“But, unfortunately, we struggled with the ball to string much together. So we’re a little bit disappointed with how we attacked. But it’s a home win.”
An early exchange of ruck penalties between Domingo Miotti (making his first start for Warriors) and Tomas Albonorz of Benetton made it 3-3 with just six minutes played, before Rufus McLean thought he had opened the game up with a breakaway try.
A loose ball in midfield was hacked ahead, and the winger – who was on release from the Scotland camp – showed the remarkable pace he has become renowned for to race past Benetton’s back field and flop over the line, but referee Frank Murphy in consultation with the TMO decided that he had not managed to legally ground the ball in the in-goal area.
Warriors did not let that disappointment knock them off their stride, and full-back Ollie Smith showed flatmate McLean how it was done when he bustled his way past three Italian tacklers and stretched over the line to ground the ball on 20 minutes.
Smith soon threatened again when he broke from deep, and he had options on both his left and right but did not release either support runner. He ended up being tackled by the last man and the chance floated away.
It remained a cagey affair for the remainder of the first half, although Benetton winger Rhyno Smith made a decent attempt at enlivening matters when he launched an ambitious drop-goal attempt from halfway. He was not far away – certainly much closer than Finn Russell in Cardiff last weekend – but it floated to the left of the posts.
There was no more scoring before the teams disappeared back down the tunnel for a breather and re-group. Home head coach Wilson will have been satisfied with his team’s defensive work, but equally frustrated by the patchiness of their attack play.
New half-backs in Ross Thompson and Jamie Dobie were introduced early in the second half, with Thompson’s first touch being an excellent kick into the corner to establish the field position for a try by Jack Dempsey five minutes later.
At this point, Benetton were down to 14 men for 10 minutes with No.8 Lorenzo Cannone in the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle on Fraser Brown at the back of a line-out.
If Thompson’s educated left boot had put Warriors on the front foot for that try, he rode his luck when his clearance from the re-start was partially
changed down but a Benetton knock-on meant Warriors got the scrum.
With rain teeming down, it was tough conditions, and both teams struggled to assert themselves in an attacking sense.
Warriors had more control of the match and lengthy spells in their opponents’ 22, but they could not make it count on the scoreboard.
It quickly became apparent that a bonus point was not going to be forthcoming, so Warriors did an effective job of closing the game down.