Seymour to the four at Scotstoun
GLASGOW 33 LEINSTER 25
PITCH-PERFECT Tommy Seymour was the star of the party as Glasgow hit back to stun the Euro giants.
Leinster had threatened to gatecrash the show by grabbing the glory on the brand new synthetic Scotstoun surface.
But a four-try volley by speed merchant Seymour sent them crashing to the pretend earth with a thump.
And, having claimed the scalps of last season’s top two Pro12 teams in successive weeks, the Warriors will set their sights on re-gaining the crown.
After a scrappy start, Glasgow were handed the first chance to break the deadlock with a penalty but Henry Pyrgos saw his strike go wide.
However, Gregor Townsend’s troops then created a brilliant try.
Great work by Leo Sarto and Sila Puafisi provided the time and space for Sam Johnson to send winger Seymour clear with a sublime long pass.
The setback sparked Leinster into attacking mode and their pressure was rewarded in the 25th minute when veteran Ireland full-back Rob Kearney burst through two challenges to score.
Joey Carbery slotted the conversion.
Glasgow’s retort was instant and lethal.
They kept their patience with a sequence of wellexecuted phases before Tim Swinson barrelled over – Pyrgos adding the extras.
The frantic end-to-end action continued with more Leinster forays and Glasgow were rocked when Sarto was yellow-carded for killing the ball in the danger zone.
It was no surprise that flanker Josh van der Flier darted through a gap for the visitors’ second touchdown – goaled by Carbery on the stroke of the interval.
And there was still time for Leinster to capitalise again.
Carbery’s lob was perfectly weighted for Zane Kirchner to safely gather and cruise over.
The young playmaker then landed a penalty straight after the restart.
Carbery fell from grace, however, when his floated pass was plucked out of the air by Seymour, who calmly completed his double, with Pyrgos slashing the gap to just two.
And the sell-out crowd roared in delight barely a minute later as Seymour bagged his treble with a solo dash.
The kick by Pyrgos was bang on to set up a tense finale.
Carbery repaired some of the damage with another penalty as the drama rose again.
But Seymour wasn’t finished. And he left the best until last with a powerful crash-ball surge, giving Pyrgos another easy conversion – leaving Leinster without even a consolation point.