Glasgow Warriors 36 The Stormers 18
GLASGOW WARRIORS booked their place in the semi-finals of the United Rugby Championship courtesy of a thrilling victory over the Stormers at Scotstoun.
The Warriors scored five tries in total, some of which were truly sublime in their creation, as they blew the Stormers away.
It was a breathless, pulsating encounter which saw Franco Smith’s men overcome the absence of so many key players to injury.
There’s an old cliché in rugby that, in order to beat a South African side, you first of all have to win the battle up front.
Yet, in reality, Glasgow made a mockery of that. Especially in the first half, they were second-best by a long way in the forward battle.
George Horne touches down for Glasgow’s fifth try of the match
They eventually found parity in the second half. But, more than anything, this was a victory which was built almost exclusively on attacking flair and lethal finishing ability.
Glasgow gave away far too many penalties, but it didn’t matter. Stormers were profligate in key moments, with the home side also defending superbly well deep in their own half.
Kyle Rowe scored twice, with the other tries coming from man of the match Rory Darge, Henco Venter and George Horne.
Sione Tuipulotu was also excellent and showed glimpses that he’s not far away from a return to his very best form.
The reigning champions will now advance to the last four, where they will most probably face Leinster in Dublin next weekend, presuming the Irish side beat Scarlets on Saturday afternoon.
‘The boys showed a lot of heart tonight, especially with how we defended,’ said Smith. ‘That’s what got us through in the end. I am so proud of their effort because Stormers put us under a lot of pressure at times.
‘Kyle Rowe was really good, he has something a little bit different. All of the boys really played well and I feel we deserved to win.
‘It’s a long season. Especially when you consider the Champions Cup as well, there are so many high-level matches.
Glasgow players mob Rory Darge after the flanker scored the opening try at Scotstoun
Kyle Rowe touches down for Glasgow’s second try against Stormers
‘There were a lot of positive for us. Henco Venter and Rory Darge were excellent. Scott Cummings got great minutes under his belt, Sione Tuipulotu brought a spark for us.
‘To win the competition is one thing. To stay at the top is really another thing completely. It’s difficult, but we are ready for the challenge heading into the semi-finals.
‘We are not getting over-excited by anything. The mission is still to go on and try to win the semi-final next weekend.’
The Stormers arrived in Glasgow on the back of some excellent form over the final few weeks of the regular season.
The visitors won a penalty in the scrum inside the opening six minutes and fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu drilled it between the posts.
But Stormers were reduced to 14 men when winger Seabelo Senatla was sent to the sin bin – and Glasgow duly punished them shortly after.
The move started with Kyle Steyn making a great line-break and bursting through a gap in the wall of blue-and-white jerseys.
Glasgow won a penalty and, from the quick tap, it was Darge who powered over from close range after some nice hands from Euan Ferrie. The conversion from Horne put them 7-3 ahead.
Centre Sione Tuipulotu kicks through the Stormers’ defence at Scotstoun
Henco Venter celebrates with Kyle Rowe after scoring a try against the Stormers
Glasgow line-breaks were becoming a common theme of the opening 20 minutes or so against a Stormers defence who were all over the shop at times.
A second try for the Warriors came when Tuipulotu dinked a kick in behind into acres of space, for Rowe to eventually hoover up the ball and dot it down.
Rarely will you ever see a South African team be so weak and porous in defence, conceding from a move which started deep in Glasgow’s half, with Horne’s conversion stretching the lead to 14-3.
Another penalty from Feinberg-Mngomezulu reduced the deficit, before Stormers scored their first try of the night on 26 minutes.
Having only just returned from his yellow card, it was Senatla who profited from Glasgow’s failure to deal with a high ball to scamper in and score under the posts.
But the response from Warriors was immediate, as Venter peeled off the back of a ruck to dive over in the corner.
Yet, for all their advantage on the scoreboard, Glasgow were guilty of gifting Stormers an easy route back into the game.
Smith’s men gave away six penalties inside the opening 30 minutes and they were having problems up front, most notably in the scrum.
On his first start of the season, tighthead prop Murphy Walker was taken off and replaced by Sam Talakai after 32 minutes.
Meanwhile, after an injury in their backline, the Stormers could bring on World Cup winner Manie Libbok to pull the strings.
Leading 19-13 at the break, it was Glasgow’s backline and ability to break from deep which had propelled them in front, despite their struggles up front.
A quicksilver line-break from Libbok created another try for Stormers early in the second half, with winger Senatla racing away down the touchline to score his second of the game.
But Glasgow roared back and Rowe also notched his second of the night when he applied the finish to some great work from Tom Jordan.
By this point, Glasgow were rampant. Some of their attacking rugby with ball in hand was sensational – and they scored another superb try on 52 minutes.
Tuipulotu looped a sublime pass out wide and the ball was eventually fed back inside for Horne to touch down and finish a wonderful team move.
The Warriors scrum-half converted his own try and added a penalty shortly after. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, Glasgow now led 36-18.
In the end, a chaotic game eventually petered out. For Glasgow, the hard work was done. They coasted home, safe in the knowledge that their quest for back-to-back titles goes on.
