WARRIOR MATTHEWS HAS HIGH FIVE FOR HISTORY
JOHNNY MATTHEWS made history by becoming the first Glasgow Warriors player ever to score five tries in one match as they routed the Dragons in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup.
On an incredible night for the hooker and for the club as a whole, Matthews was the chief beneficiary as Glasgow’s lineout maul proved a lethal weapon.
The 29-year-old’s five-try haul included a 12-minute hat-trick midway through the first half, one of which also saw him produce a blistering turn of pace to supplement the grunt that yielded the other four.
Glasgow were far too strong for the Dragons — finishing with 11 tries in total and breaking their own club record for most points scored in a match.
The Welsh side were ravaged by injuries and were soundly beaten by a Glasgow team who now advance to play South African side the Lions at Scotstoun in next weekend’s quarter-finals.
But Warriors head coach Franco Smith demanded more, saying: ‘There are a lot of things we can do much better, but for tonight we must take the joy out of the win.
‘There was a conversation in the changing room — I don’t want to say we are disappointed, but we are not completely happy with how it went. That’s the group, not me. The players drive the message. We’ve got a good leadership group and they drive the standards.’
Glasgow made a flying start and scored the opening try after just three minutes.
It was skipper Kyle Steyn who made the key line-break and he eventually fed George Horne, who had run a typically adventurous and energetic support line.
Horne ran in to score, before getting up and converting his own try for a 7-0 lead.
Glasgow were playing with lovely width in their attack and were causing the Welsh side huge problems, but their second try came from a direct approach.
From a lineout maul, it was hooker Matthews (right) who eventually rumbled over and touched down to continue his prolific season. Horne again converted.
The visitors hit back with a try of their own on 20 minutes when full-back Jordan Williams punished some slack defending from Glasgow to touch down.
But that was totally against the run of play and did nothing to halt Warriors’ dominance. Matthews scored twice in the space of four minutes to complete his hat-trick just shy of the halfhour mark.
The first saw him produce a brilliant turn of pace to outstrip Dragons scrum-half Rhodri Williams, before he then peeled off a maul once again to touch down and complete his treble.
Dragons scored another try through winger Rio
Dyer — but they were reduced to 14 men when ex-Glasgow prop Aki Seiuli was shown a red card for a dangerous high tackle on Horne.
Incredibly, Matthews then got his fourth try of the game after just 34 minutes and, once again, it came from the usual source of peeling off the back of a lineout maul. Dragons pulled another try back on the cusp of half-time through winger Jared Rosser, but Glasgow were still comfortable and led 33-19 at the break. It was really just a case of how much more damage Glasgow would inflict on their opponents — and Matthews wasted no time in scoring his fifth try on 44 minutes.
He took his leave to a standing ovation, with his replacement George Turner then picking up where Matthews had left off by touching down just a couple of minutes after coming on.
It could have been a double hat-trick for Matthews had he stayed on, but Glasgow scored another four wonderful tries courtesy of Cole Forbes, Huw Jones and Steyn (2).
For Matthews and the Warriors, it was a recordbreaking night all round. SCORERS; Glasgow — Tries: Horne, Matthews 5, Turner, Forbes, Jones, Steyn 2. Cons: Horne 8, Miotti.
Dragons — Tries: J Williams, Dyer, Rosser,
Cons: Reed 4.