THERE FOR THE TAKING...
Warriors win again but fall short of collecting the perfect 10 from Lyon double-header
HAVING taken only 44 seconds to score the opening try, Glasgow were cruising towards a third successive bonus-point victory in the Heineken Champions Cup.
Or so it seemed. Following that flying start, courtesy of Niko Matawalu, the Warriors were only able to cross the whitewash on one further occasion.
Indeed, they could only score three points in the second half, unable to penetrate some stubborn French resistance amid some truly filthy conditions.
By the end of it all, there was a nagging sense that this might just prove to be a missed opportunity for Dave Rennie and his players.
The reasons that they should have scored four tries were plentiful. The early breakthrough, the fact they were playing against a team who had already been eliminated and also that they played the final 11 minutes against 14 men, following a red card for Lyon lock Etienne Oosthuizen.
Things are never quite that straightforward, however, and, although Glasgow still have every chance of finishing as one of the three best runners-up and progressing to the knockout stages, this result just throws an extra element of chance into the mix.
Rennie’s men now sit on 14 points. While 18 might be enough, 19 would certainly be preferable to remove any doubt.
So they will now head into their final two fixtures next month, against Cardiff Blues at home and away to Saracens on the final day, targeting a five-point haul.
Had they taken five yesterday, they would essentially be going into the Cardiff game knowing that any old victory would do the job.
Coupled with a nasty injury to George Turner, on the back of fellow hooker Fraser Brown being ruled out for up to 10 weeks after knee surgery, this was, indeed, a bittersweet affair.
Warriors went into this game on the back of last week’s thumping 42-22 victory in France.
Yet Rennie still saw fit to ring the changes, making eight alterations to the starting XV as he sought to guard against complacency.
How pleasing it must have been for him, then, that it took less than a minute for his team to dispel any notion that they might somehow have taken their foot off the gas following that triumph.
As he has been so often this season, Adam Hastings was the architect. Fielding a Lyon kick, he looked safe as houses under the high ball, duly caught it, darted through a gap and charged upfield.
It was so simple. Lyon’s pitiful, powderpuff attempts to tackle him and halt his progress illustrated the fact that they were already eliminated following three defeats in their opening three games.
On such a dreich, freezing cold day, their motivation was not immediately obvious. By the end, though, they certainly seemed to have warmed to the task.
After Hastings had finally been brought down, Ali Price recycled the ball quickly, spreading it to Stuart Hogg, whose clever grubberkick was collected and dotted down by Matawalu for the opening score.
Hastings missed the conversion but the fly-half did keep the scoreboard ticking over with a couple of penalties before Matawalu got his second try on 22 minutes.
A perfect example of how to exploit space in the opposition 22, Hastings fed a lovely inside ball to Hogg, who had come up on a great support line from full-back.
He then released it back on the outside for the Fijian to race in unchallenged. Hastings slotted the conversion from in front of the posts.
Glasgow were threatening to run riot. Lyon eventually found their feet, though, and began to make an impression in the match around the half-hour mark.
The French side thought they had scored on two occasions but were twice denied by referee Ben Whitehouse, following consultation with the TMO. Glasgow’s defence was ferocious in the face of some sustained pressure. This has not always been the way of things for the Warriors in Europe. Their forward pack have too often been found wanting in recent seasons.
A blemish came with a yellow card to co-captain Callum Gibbins on 36 minutes for an open-palm slap on Lyon No8 Deon Fourie.
Gibbins was, somewhat comically, soon to be found clutching a hot water bottle as he served his time in the sin bin. A sold-out Scotstoun chittered with envy.
French fly-half Jean-Marc Doussain kicked a penalty on the stroke of half-time to get the visitors on the scoreboard, Glasgow leading 18-3 at the interval.
But the break didn’t do a great deal to interrupt the momentum that Lyon had built. Some patient play saw them register their only try on 53 minutes.
Recycling the ball through the phases, it looked like they might have butchered the chance when a loose pass from full-back JeanMarcellin Buttin went to ground.
But winger Xavier Mignot was able to hack it forward, the ball evading Hogg and bouncing up into the arms of scorer Pierre-Louis Barassi. Doussain kicked a terrific conversion from out wide.
The score was now 18-10 in Glasgow’s favour but a Hastings penalty eased them a further three point clear with 13 minutes to go.
Stafford McDowall was making his European debut for Glasgow, but he and fellow centre Huw Jones were limited to precious few attacking opportunities.
Oosthuizen was then red-carded for a ridiculous forearm smash on Hastings, but Warriors were unable to make any further inroads on the scoreboard.
Nine points from the doubleheader with Lyon is by no means a bad return. Rennie and his players would certainly have taken that.
But they will know that it really ought to have been a perfect 10.