Russell guides Warriors to first title

Finn Russell inspired Glasgow Warriors to their maiden Pro12 title with a solid kicking display and a second-half try to sink Munster in Belfast.

But there was to be no repeat of last year's defeat to Leinster, as Glasgow showed their superior cutting edge to clinch a 31-13 victory and give retiring captain Al Kellock the perfect send-off.

A blistering first half saw Rob Harley, DTH van der Merwe and Henry Pyrgos each cross over for the Warriors, but Andrew Smith's score just before the break sent Munster in just 11 points off the pace.

That deficit was cut to eight early in the second half, but Russell flew over on the hour and the Warriors expertly saw out the contest to ensure Munster's wait for a fourth Pro12 crown goes on for at least another year.

Glasgow were let off when Ian Keatley's early long-range penalty fell short of the posts but they almost stole a march towards the Munster line soon after, only for a heroic tap-tackle from stand-in captain Denis Hurley to halt van der Merwe's charge.

They didn't miss out, however, just a couple of minutes later when Leone Nakarawa piled his way into the 22 and showed great awareness to find an offload to Harley.

The flank, restored to the starting XV after being left out of Glasgow's last two games, powered over under the posts and Russell added the simple conversion.

Nakarawa's ball carrying continued to cause problems and after another surge forward Glasgow almost had a second try, great work from Keith Earls preventing van der Merwe from latching onto a neat grubber kick.

CJ Stander sparked some life into Munster after 20 minutes when he charged down a Russell clearance and, from the resulting possession, Earls and Simon Zebo linked up neatly before the former was halted just shy of the line.

Keatley did put them on the board when a huge scrum yielded a penalty on the Warriors 22 – those three points taking the flyhalf to 179 this Pro12 season and confirming him as the competition's top scorer.

But that only served to ignite the Scots and play-off hero Van der Merwe was at it again, streaking down the left touchline to cross over before Russell's extras made it 14-3.

It got better for Glasgow on the half-hour mark when Stuart Hogg conjured up a three-on-one out of nothing with a lightning-fast break and fed Pyrgos to coast over unchallenged, Russell again tapping over the conversion.

But the response was a determined one and after a dozen phases of Munster battering away at the Warriors line the ball went wide to Smith.

He squirmed over the whitewash and, after a lengthy TMO decision, the try was awarded and Keatley reduced the deficit to 11 from the tee.

Munster picked up where they left off after the break and after Paul O'Connell was held up just short of the line, Glasgow conceded a penalty at scrum time and Keatley added three points.

The lead had begun to look a little slender, but Russell addressed that on the hour mark – picking a gap to slip through and dive over before converting the try himself.

Kellock was introduced to rapturous applause with just over 20 minutes left and instantly stole a Munster line-out on his own 22.

Duncan Weir – on for Russell at flyhalf – then added a penalty six minutes from time to make it 31-13 and that's the way it stayed, Glasgow crowned Pro12 champions for the first time.

Man of the match: Why look any further than Warriors flyhalf Finn Russell – the man that sealed the win with a crucial try going into the final quarter.

Moment of the match: Again it is easy – the Finn Russell try in the 59th minute – which took the score from 21-13 to 28-13 and knocked the stuffing out of the Munster resistance.

Villain of the match: Nobody.

The scorers:

For Glasgow Warriors:

Tries: Harley, Van Der Merwe, Pyrgos, Russell

Cons: Russell 4

Pen: Weir

For Munster:

Try: Smith

Con: Keatley

Pens: Keatley 2

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Peter Horne, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Josh Strauss (captain), 7 Ryan Wilson, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4  Leone Nakarawa, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gordon Reid.

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Jon Welsh, 19  Al Kellock, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Sean Lamont.

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Denis Hurley (captain) , 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Paddy Butler, 6 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Billy Holland, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.

Replacements: 16 Duncan Casey, 17 James Cronin, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Sean Dougall, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Cathal Sheridan, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Ronan O'Mahony.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Assistant referees:  Ian Davies (Wales), Sean Brickell (Wales)

TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)

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