CHANCE TO GAIN REVENGE NOT MIST
Warriors shine in Scotstoun smog to humble Chiefs a year after rout
A NIGHT to forget for Exeter Chiefs, but a famous victory for Glasgow Warriors. Here was confirmation of a renewed sense of purpose and a positive direction of travel under Danny Wilson.
Wilson saluted this as the Warriors’ best performance since he took charge 18 months ago. Given the calibre of opposition and the fact it came in a must-win Heineken Champions Cup clash, that assessment is beyond question.
Few teams can claim to have outplayed and outmuscled Exeter as comprehensively as Glasgow did. For context, the Chiefs didn’t even score a point until the 71st minute.
When these sides met in this competition 12 months ago, Exeter destroyed Glasgow 42-0 at Sandy Park. Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray were among the try-scorers.
If that debacle was a tough watch for Glasgow fans, this game took the meaning of that term in its most literal sense.
Bizarre but brilliant in equal measure, how ironic that the best performance and result of the Wilson era should be one in which a sold-out Scotstoun crowd struggled to actually see.
Hogg and Gray returned to their old club last night, apparently. But it was difficult to actually pick them out as the pitch became engulfed in a thick smog.
The fog made visibility pretty much non-existent, but Glasgow rose above the conditions to deliver a rousing victory which keeps alive their hopes of Champions Cup progression.
Exeter, though, just never got going. European champions of two seasons ago, they offered next to nothing in attack.
Their winger Jack Nowell wears a scrum cap with his Red Bull sponsors logo emblazoned upon it. A fine player he is, too.
But, truthfully, the Chiefs could have had Max Verstappen playing out on the wing and no one would have been any the wiser. Players were merely shadows in the mist.
Glasgow were outstanding. Ross Thompson kicked 15 points in a nerveless display, with Jack Dempsey, Sione Tuipulotu and Zander Fagerson also excelling.
‘To win against a fully-loaded Exeter side in the manner we did stands as my proudest moment,’ said a delighted Wilson, whose side bounced back magnificently from defeat at La Rochelle in their opener last weekend.
‘As a group, it’s our biggest achievement so far. But there’s a lot more to come. We need to get more consistent and do what we did tonight on demand.
‘We have to play to our identity, which is to play fast, but we also have to be able to be pragmatic.
‘This was the nearest thing to Test rugby. It was tight, so it was all about getting two scores ahead.
Ross chipped away nicely which gave us the ability to go to the corner and finish the game off.
‘To get the win was really pleasing. This time last year, our competition was a disaster so to get a bonus point away and a win today is massive.’
Glasgow led 3-0 at half-time thanks to a penalty from Thompson after 15 minutes. But, beyond that, the first half held little fluency or rhythm.
There was almost a comedy value at times as both teams tried desperately to get to grips with the conditions.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, handling errors were plentiful. Any time the ball was booted into the smoggy night sky, it was a lottery to guess where it might drop.
Exeter’s best spell of pressure came just after the half-hour mark when they were camped on the Glasgow five-metre line.
But a loud roar went up from the home crowd after the Warriors won a vital turnover on their own line to relieve the pressure.
As for who won the turnover? Well, that was anyone’s guess. Take your pick from about four of five players amid all the high-fives and back-slapping.
Glasgow came close to the opening try just on the cusp of half-time after a powerful, surging run from hooker George Turner.
He was held up just short, before the referee brought the play back for a Glasgow penalty. Rather than taking the three points, though, they opted to go for the corner.
The lineout came to nothing and Exeter cleared their lines. In a game where the margins always looked like they could be tight, Glasgow has basically passed up three easy points.
Yet, in the end, it didn’t matter. Where the Warriors managed to clean things up and cut out a lot of mistakes in the second half, Exeter continued to make errors.
Thompson slotted another penalty on 49 minutes to extend his team’s advantage. There was a growing sense of belief that Glasgow might just do it.
All the more so when Thompson kicked another two penalties midway through the second half to put them 12-0 ahead.
The home crowd at Scotstoun were fuelled by a performance which had seen their team outplay Exeter in near enough every department.
Every Exeter error was roared to the rafters; every Glasgow turnover cheered with more and more fire in the belly.
It was not, however, all plain sailing. Exeter finally got their act together with 71 minutes on the clock and scored a try through their ever-prolific No8 Sam Simmonds.
Simmonds’ brother, Joe, slotted the conversion and with the score at
12-7 in Glasgow’s favour, it looked like it might make for a nervy ending.
But almost immediately, Thompson split the posts with another booming penalty to take Glasgow more than a converted score ahead at 15-7.
A try from Glasgow replacement hooker Jonny Matthews in the final minute then capped a brilliant night for Wilson’s side.
They had gone toe-to-toe with Exeter and won the war courtesy of an almighty shift from their forwards. Victory was richly deserved.
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter said: ‘If I’m honest, conditions didn’t play a part because they were the same for both sides.
‘We couldn’t get into our stride. Glasgow were really up for the fight and deserved to win the game.’