It might have been workmanlike, but Saracens will still prove the acid test
GLASGOW WARRIORS will rue not earning a bonus point at Scotstoun yesterday.
With Lyon having nothing to play for and the weather conditions nothing short of horrendous, it was teed up for Glasgow to nail it down.
They had one stand-out moment in the second half when they went multi-phase but they just could not convert.
However, they won — and sometimes that’s just what you need to do.
Glasgow had to be workmanlike and they are still in with a strong opportunity if they can they get something in their next two games in Pool Three.
The Warriors face Cardiff Blues at home next month and I expect them to win that contest.
It will just be if they are then put in a position to need to get a result at Saracens in their final match.
Everyone probably presumed Lyon would fold after Glasgow scored their first try with only 44 seconds played.
But they are going okay in the French Top14.
They have three players who I played with at Clermont Auvergne.
There’s the loosehead prop Raphael Chaume, the back-rower Loann Goujon and the full-back Jean-Marcellin Buttin.
I know how good they are as players and people.
We still generalise with the French teams that they will come over here and fold.
This has been a big blow to them.
They wouldn’t have wanted to come over here and be rolled over.
With Niko Matawalu scoring the opening try so quickly, you would have thought: ‘Here we go…’
Glasgow’s pack showed up well, which was good.
There was a little bit of line-out trouble later in the second half which did not allow them to build a platform and squeeze Lyon and put them under pressure in their 22.
That’s where the weather played its part. It was hard to get close to the tryline when players were going against the wind, the sleet and the rain that was coming down.
There is no doubt the red card shown to Etienne Oosthuizen for his elbow in the face of Adam Hastings was clear-cut.
You have to be so careful. When you strike an opponent on the head, you have to take the consequences.
It was the same for the yellow card that Glasgow co-captain Callum Gibbins picked up in the first half.
Even though he was being held and was frustrated, if you strike someone on the head or in the face you are going to be leaving the pitch for 10 minutes.
That’s they the type of thing that happened a lot in French rugby before there were so many television cameras.
It was also a big blow to see George Turner stretchered off. We hope that it is not as serious as it looked — both for Glasgow and, depending how long Fraser Brown is out with his knee injury he picked up in the victory at Lyon last weekend, for Scotland.
Glasgow didn’t need that yesterday.
Things can change so quickly. They have a lot of fantastic centres, wingers, hookers… and then, suddenly, they lose two in successive weekends.
Glasgow can now focus on the week ahead before taking on Edinburgh in the first game of the 1872 Cup at BT Murrayfield.
Edinburgh have their Champions Cup match today at Newcastle Falcons, so Glasgow will have an extra day’s recovery. They will need it after yesterday’s match.
Historically, over the last few years, Edinburgh have performed well at Murrayfield and they have been up for it.
Looking at the two camps, Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill loves a derby from his time down in England in the Premiership between Leicester and Northampton.
It would not surprise me if we get a little bit of chat coming up.
I can expect Cockerill to be talking about Glasgow having a bigger budget and men coming through. We might just see a few verbal trade-offs.
There is a challenge for Glasgow to try to break Edinburgh’s almost minidominance in the 1872 Cup.
Excuse the pun, but it is all set to be a Christmas cracker.
Enjoy.