Glasgow dismiss error-prone Cheetahs

PRO14 REPORT: First-half tries from Callum Gibbins, Kyle Steyn and Rory Hughes inspired Glasgow Warriors to a convincing 35-17 win over the Cheetahs on Saturday.

It extended the Warriors’ lead at the top of Conference A.

A powerful Warriors side resisted early pressure and hit back with scores from Gibbins, Steyn and Hughes – with only William Small-Smith’s brilliant effort in reply.

Cheetahs threatened a comeback with an early try from Joseph Dweba but Stafford McDowall effectively sealed the win for a hungry Glasgow side.

It was then down to Scott Cummings to embellish the score before Small-Smith’s speed allowed him to cross again with a minute to go.

Cheetahs came flying out of the blocks and would have crossed had it not been for some dogged Warriors defence.

They were made to pay for their wastefulness minutes later as Glasgow skipper Gibbins crossed the line after some powerful scrum play.

But the South African side grew into the game after going down, with a wonderful weaving run from Small-Smith finishing off a clever move following a set-piece.

The try sparked an intense period of rugby in which Steyn showed his pace and strength to crash through two Cheetahs defenders and dot down to increase his side’s lead.

Hughes then spotted a gap in the backline following a ruck to squeeze through and cross – despite appearing offside, the try was upheld after review.

The winger was then metres away from doubling his tally as he latched onto a clever drop kick but was thwarted at the last as his side took a comfortable lead into the break.

The away side, once again, came out of the break the stronger again as Dweba’s surging run broke through four Warriors defenders to score after receiving a clever pass.

But the home side secured their own bonus point through a mix of quick handoffs and raw power as centre McDowall forced his way over the line.

With Cheetahs pushing forward, the score came at a crucial time for the hosts as Glasgow showed their trademark counter-attacking ability to take the wind out of the visitor’s sails.

The away side did gather themselves and grew back into the game with a series of substitutions, but they were stopped by a stalwart backline at every occasion and contributed to their own offensive downfall with a series of unforced turnovers.

And when Cummings placed the ball over with four minutes left, Glasgow were able to breathe easy as Small-Smith’s well-taken consolation after accelerating past his defender meant Cheetahs came agonisingly close to a bonus point.

The scorers:

For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Gibbins, Steyn, Hughes, McDowall, Cummings
Cons: Horne 3, Hastings 2

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Small-Smith 2, Dweba
Con: Schoeman

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Niko Matawalu, 13 Kyle Steyn, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Pete Horne, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (captain), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Bruce Flockhart, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Adam Hastings, 22 Paddy Kelly, 23 Robbie Nairn.

Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Dries Swanepoel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Henco Venter, 7 Abongile Nonkontwana, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Charles Marais.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Reinach Venter, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Justin Basson, 20 JP du Preez, 21 Gerhard Olivier, 22 Shaun Venter, 23 Louis Fouche.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Dunx McClement (Scotland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Source: @PRO14Official

Glasgow certainly have this man to thank 👊

Matt Fagerson did the dirty work brilliantly for @GlasgowWarriors as he held the line against a spirited @CheetahsRugby side 👆👆👆

Here he is receiving his man-of-the-match award from John Cant of Guinness ✊#GuinnessPro14 #GLAvCHE pic.twitter.com/sbn0sCPhv3

— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) March 23, 2019