Glasgow too good for late Benetton fightback

The Scottish international wing crossed in the first half, joined on the scoreboard by Rob Harley before the first half was up.

Peter Horne – alongside his 12 points from the boot – also got in on the act with a try after the interval as the Warriors secured their fifth win from five this season.

The Italian side responded through Marco Lazzaroni just before the hour mark as well as Federico Ruzza, though their third PRO14 win of the season was not to be forthcoming.

It’s taken a while for Seymour to take his Scotstoun bow this year, but he took just 15 minutes to make up for lost time with a move straight off the training field.

Attacking off a line-out, Glasgow worked the ball out to their talismanic wing, bisecting the Benetton defence to crash under the posts for the game’s first score.

A second was to come soon after, this time from Harley, though he had plenty to thank the rest of his Scottish team for before adding the finishing touches.

Going through the phases, Glasgow ended up in the Italian 22 where Harley took charge, the flank charging through to dot down and open up a 14-point lead.

The first of Marty Banks’ three first-half penalties got Benetton on the board, though Horne too was impressive with the boot to ensure his side led 17-9 come the half-time whistle.

The initial score of the second half looked to be key and it was the hosts who got it, with Horne transforming his form from the tee to get his side’s third try of the evening.

This one was completely of his own doing too, intricate and nimble on his feet to steps, spins and sway his way to the try line – adding the finishing touches with the conversion.

But Benetton – with two victories already to their names this season – were not to be done there as Lazzaroni crossed with 23 minutes still to play.

Sending a penalty to the corner, the Italians pushed over from the resulting line-out, with the replacement credited for their first score of the contest.

That inspired plenty of confidence in the visitors, setting up a grandstand finale thanks to Ruzza 12 minutes from time.

After a period of pressure, it was another score to come from a replacement, burrowing his way over the line to narrow the deficit to six.

Brandon Thomson’s penalty gave his Glasgow side some late breathing space with time ticking down.

And with seven minutes extra played with the ball still alive, there was still just enough time for Sam Johnson to add gloss to the proceedings – picking up the all-important bonus point in the process.

The scorers:

For Glasgow:

Tries: Seymour, Harley, Horne, Thomson

Cons: Horne 3, Thomson

Pens: Horne 2, Thomson

For Benetton Rugby:

Tries: Lazzaroni, Ruzza

Con: Banks

Pens: Banks 3

The teams:

Glasgow: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Ryan Wilson (captain), 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Brian Alainu'uese, 3 D'Arcy Rae, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Alex Allan.

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Adam Nicol, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Ali Price, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Niko Matawalu.

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Marty Banks, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd (captain), 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Cherif Traore.

Replacements: 16 Federico Zani, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Robert Barbieri, 22 Giorgio Bronzini, 23 Ian McKinley.

Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)

Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas (Wales), Cammy Rudkin (Scotland)

@Pro14Official