Pro14 RUGBY
GLASGOW WARRIORS 34 DRAGONS 19
Warriors doused the fire of the Dragons to boost their quest to claim a Pro14 title play-off slot, writes DAVID KELSO.
Dave Rennie’s troops performed with brains as well as brawn to overcome wretched conditions at Scotstoun.
Hooker Grant Stewart emerged as the try-star with a double. However, it was a topnotch team effort that secured the crucial bonus point.
Glasgow had suffered a shock after just 50 seconds when Rhodri Williams intercepted a Jamie Dobie pass and cruised to the line from inside his own danger zone.
Sam Davies made light of the conditions to add the extras.
Dobie made quick amends, however, by launching the huge clearance kick that led to a touchdown for Tim Swinson, with Pete Horne slotting the levelling conversion.
Tempers boiled over in the 25th minute when Glasgow’s Oli Kebble and rival Lloyd Fairbrother were yellow carded.
Immediately Warriors surged ahead with a Stewart effort from a line-out – goaled by Horne, who then landed a penalty. But there was a setback as superstar Leone Nakarawa was taken off with a serious-looking knee injury.
Winger Ratu Tagive thought he had bagged a third try for the hosts straight after the interval – but the video ref ruled he’d failed to ground the ball properly.
However, in their next raid, Stewart was driven over to complete his brace.
Warriors stayed in control – only for Williams to snatch his second breakaway score, converted by Davies.
But a slick handling sequence created a touchdown for Huw Jones at the other end to ease the jitters.
The tussle was thrown back into the melting pot when sub Nick Frisby’s botched clearance handed a try to visiting speed merchant Ashton Hewitt.
Glasgow steadied the ship again to make sure of the success with a late Mesu Delokoto effort.
■ Thrilled Edinburgh chief Richard Cockerill hailed streetwise sub John Barclay in the wake of Friday night’s crucial Pro14 triumph over Connacht.
The Gunners had been in danger of imploding after leaking two soft tries either side of the interval.
But the scenario changed when the veteran former Scotland skipper came off the bench – and they coasted to a 41-14 success.
The coach said: “John’s influence was tremendous.
“We had gone through a horrible 10-minute patch and he settled things down.
“In the end if was a great bonus-point result.”