Pro14: Cheetahs 24-52 Glasgow: Warriors score seven tries in third straight win
- Published
Adam Hastings scored 22 points and ran in the first try of the game after just 72 seconds
Pro14 |
|---|
Cheetahs (19) 24 |
Tries: Small-Smith, Jaer 2, Lee Cons: Schoeman 2 |
Glasgow Warriors (14) 52 |
Tries: Hastings, Price 2, Seymour, Van der Merwe, Gibbins, G Horne Cons: Hastings 7 Pen: Hastings |
Glasgow recovered from a scrappy first half to score seven tries in all and move top of Pro14 Conference A with an ultimately crushing win over Cheetahs.
Warriors trailed 19-14 at the break as the hosts ran in three tries.
But Glasgow capitalised on Malcolm Jaer's yellow card a minute into the new half, Tommy Seymour and Ali Price touching down.
DTH van der Merwe, Callum Gibbins and George Horne also scored, with Adam Hastings contributing 22 points.
The fly-half opened the scoring with a converted try after just 72 seconds and finished with a perfect record of eight successful goals from eight attempts.
Earlier in the day the Springboks won a heroic victory against the All Blacks in Wellington due, in part, to their extraordinary defence. The Cheetahs don't do defence, though. It's not in their DNA. They have one setting - attack.
That makes them a hugely adventurous team in the altitude of their own Bloemfontein stronghold, but it also makes them wide open to soft scores - and there were plenty of soft scores out there.
Hastings sliced them open and converted to begin the try-fest. Glasgow coughed up far too much ball in the opening half and it cost them. Van der Merwe spilled it and away the Cheetahs went. Bernhard Janse van Rensburg grubbered for William Small-Smith to touch down.
Three minute later, another Glasgow turnover while pounding on the Cheetahs line sparked a magnificent counter-attack, pockmarked by missed tackles, and finished off by full-back Jaer. Trailing 12-7, Glasgow then lost Alex Dunbar to the bin for a high tackle on Ryno Eksteen.
Despite being down on numbers, Glasgow struck when Rob Harley ran a great line and then found Price in support. Hastings converted to put the visitors in front, but then, in the breakneck pace of it all, Tian Schoeman got through Harley and fed Nico Lee to put the Cheetahs back ahead.
The turning point came with Jaer's yellow card for taking Seymour out in the air. While he was away, Glasgow found their ruthless side, scoring 21 unanswered points. Seymour cut his way through a gap for the first of them, then Price polished off a terrific team score, the replacement prop, Alex Allan bumping two tacklers before presenting Price with a present.
That was the bonus-point try, but there was another before Jaer returned, Pete Horne throwing a nice skip pass for Van der Merwe to cross. That put Glasgow 35-19 in front. Given the nature of the game, the points kept coming. Jaer went in for his second try and the Cheetahs' fourth, for a bonus point, but Glasgow replied with 17 more points.
Hastings' penalty and Gibbins' try, following George Turner's sumptuous pick-up off Schoeman's loose pass, made it 45-24 and George Horne made it seven tries, and 52 points, before the end.
The Springboks versus the All Blacks, it was not. But it was a five-pointer for a Glasgow team that worked through their own slackness early on to maintain their winning start to the season. The downside was the injury to Zander Fagerson, the Scotland tight-head taken off the field on a cart. A worrying sight on an otherwise pleasing night for the Warriors.
Glasgow Warriors: Jackson; Seymour, Dunbar, P Horne, DTH van der Merwe; Hastings, Price; Kebble, Brown, Z Fagerson, Cummings, Gray, Harley, Gibbins, Ashe.
Replacements: Turner, Allan, Rae, M Fagerson, Fusaro, G Horne, Frisby, Jones.
Cheetahs: Jaer; Small-Smith; J R van Rensburg, Lee, Maxwane; Schoeman, Meyer; Marais, Dweba, Coetzee, Steenkamp, Du Preez, Olivier, Pokomela, Davis.
Replacements: Du Toit, Nche, G van Rensburg, Visser, Jordaan, M van der Merwe, Venter, Eksteen.
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ire)