Horne leads Glasgow to Champions Cup win over Sale

George Horne scored a hat-trick of Glasgow tries

Investec Champions Cup

Glasgow Warriors (33) 38

Tries: Horne 3, Rowe, Jones, Cummings Cons: Horne 3, Jordan

Sale Sharks (12) 19

Tries: Penalty try, Reed, Carpenter Con: Du Preez

Glasgow Warriors opened their Investec Champions Cup campaign with a dominant bonus-point victory against visitors Sale Sharks.

Scrum-half George Horne scored three of Glasgow's five first-half tries, with Kyle Rowe and Huw Jones also crossing.

A penalty try and one by Arron Reed were Sale's scores before the break and Joe Carpenter went over in the second half.

Scott Cummings' score completed Glasgow's victory.

The United Rugby Championship winners led within three minutes in blistering style. Matt Fagerson held off a tackle and offloaded to Jones, who in turn fed Horne to speed through the resulting gap. Horne himself converted.

Horne was on hand again to receive off a ruck then chase his own grubber kick to touch down on the opposite side, the right. His conversion attempt was wide, however.

The wave of attacks kept coming at Sale and Warriors' quick handling from right to left unleashed Rowe to burst over and touch down in a central position for an easy Horne conversion.

After such a chastening opening 20 minutes, Sharks composed themselves and were awarded a penalty try off a rolling maul and Horne was sent to the bin for coming in from the side.

But Glasgow soon had their bonus point. Rory Darge's pick and go near the line set up Sebastian Cancelliere for the pass wide right for Jones to run in. Tom Jordan converted in Horne's absence.

Sale still had their numerical advantage and went through the phases for Scotland wing Reed to ground on the left. Rob du Preez's pass had set up Reed but the fly-half's conversion swirled wide at a windy Scotstoun.

Horne's hat-trick try owed much to the forcefulness of Jamie Bhatti's burst into the 22 before a side offload near the posts. Horne converted.

Cummings appeared to take Carpenter out in the air early in the second half but avoided a yellow card.

Carpenter was next to register, bustling his way through a throng before setting up a straightforward conversion for Du Preez.

A bonus point and a losing bonus point were now on for Sale but Cummings put paid to those ambitions with Glasgow's sixth try off Horne's pass near the line. Horne's conversion was unsuccessful.

Glasgow replacement Angus Fraser sat out the final seconds of the match following a yellow card for a high tackle on Raffi Quirke.

Also in Pool 4, Toulon won 24-14 away to Stormers and Racing 92 beat visitors Harlequins 23-12.

Warriors face Toulon away next Sunday (13:00 GMT), with Sale at home to Racing 92 on Friday (20:00).

Internationals star on return for Glasgow

Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu and four international team-mates - props Jamie Bhatti and Zander Fagerson and flankers Fagerson and Darge - returned to the Glasgow line-up and their quality shone through, particularly in the first half.

By contrast, Sale were shorn England trio Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ben Curry and George Ford while lock Johnny Hill came off the bench following a 10-week suspension.

Asher Opoku-Fordjour's return at tight-head featured a stunning first-half carry that eventually led to the Reed try but Sharks lacked more of those moments in the plummeting temperatures.

If Warriors' first half was all about attack, their defence in the second was almost as impressive, repelling most of what came at them.

Line-ups

Glasgow Warriors: McKay, Cancelliere, Jones, Tuipulotu, Rowe, Jordan, G Horne, Bhatti, Hiddleston, Z Fagerson, Oguntibeju, Cummings, M Fagerson, Darge, Venter.

Replacements: Dobie for Cancelliere (65), Weir for Jordan (66), Sutherland for Bhatti (53), Matthews for Hiddleston (53), Talakai for Z Fagerson (53), Samuel for Oguntibeju (53), Fraser for Darge (73), Mann for Venter (66). Not Used: Miller. Sin Bin: G Horne (21), Fraser (82).

Sale: Carpenter, Addison, James, S Bedlow, Reed, R du Preez, Warr, Rodd, McElroy, Opoku-Fordjour, Van Rhyn, Andrews, J du Preez, T Curry, D du Preez.

Replacements: Curtis for Addison (45), Quirke for Warr (45), McIntyre for Rodd (56), Harper for Opoku-Fordjour (56), Bamber for Van Rhyn (56), Hill for Andrews (51), Dugdale for D du Preez (65). Not Used: Thompson.