Stewart double puts Glasgow into top three
PRO14 MATCH REPORT: Hooker Grant Stewart bagged a brace to help Glasgow Warriors outgun Dragons in a bonus-point win at Scotstoun.
The Welsh region scored three superb tries – a double for Rhodri Williams and one for Ashton Hewitt – but second-half scores for Stewart, Huw Jones and Mesu Dolokoto eventually saw the Warriors to their third win on the trot.
The result sees the Warriors overtake the Cheetahs in third place in Conference A.
Key Moments
Dean Ryan’s men got the dream of all starts in this one at Scotstoun as scrum-half Rhodri Williams gambled at a line-out, intercepted and ran in 60 metres to the line.
At 7-0 down the Warriors were in no mood for it to stay that way for long, with lock Tim Swinson getting over on 10 minutes and Pete Horne converting to gain parity.
Next came a bit of handbags and a yellow apiece for Glasgow’s Oli Kebble and Dragons’ Lloyd Fairbrother, with Stewart clambering over shortly after.
Pete Horne kicked another penalty and Aki Seiuli thought he’d grabbed a third try just before the break, only to see it ruled out for a double movement.
Warriors fans just had to wait until the start of the second half for that third try though, with young scrum-half Jamie Dobie expertly breaking from his own half and then handing over to the forwards to drive Stewart over the line – Dobie on his first Guinness PRO14 start.
Glasgow led 22-7 and threatened to overrun their visitors but the Dragons responded ten minutes later as Rhodri Williams finished off an excellent team move.
But anything the away side could do the home side could also, Glasgow breaking from halfway, through hands to Seiuli and eventually to Huw Jones to finish off.
The crowd suspected that might be the end of the contest but back came Dragons as the pendulum swung, lightning-fast wing Hewitt skipping away down the left flank to get over the line.
In the final ten minutes Glasgow led 27-19 but kept on pushing, the forwards utilised again as Dolokoto touched down for his third in two games.
Play of the Day
Rhodri Williams and Sam Davies have formed an excellent partnership for Dragons this season and gave the perfect example of their interplay for the second try.
The fly-half showed impressive pace to sear into the Warriors 22, sent an overhead offload inside to hooker Ellis Shipp, who forwarded it on to Williams to finish the move.
Man of the Match – Jamie Dobie
Glasgow Warriors have a knack for finding scrum-half talent and on Saturday we saw evidence they’ve discovered another, in the shape of 18-year-old Jamie Dobie.
On his first start Dobie delivered good service all night and offered real threat with ball in hand, claiming 69 metres in all and in large part setting up Stewart’s second score.
The scorers
For Glasgow:
Tries: Swinson, Stewart 2, Jones, Dolokoto
Cons: Horne 3
Pen: Horne
For the Dragons:
Tries: Williams 2, Hewitt
Cons: Davies 2
Yellow cards: Oliver Kebble (Glasgow Warriors, 23), Lloyd Fairbrother (Dragons, 23), Josh Reynolds (Dragons, 79)
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Glenn Bryce, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Nick Grigg, 11 Ratu Tagive, 10 Pete Horne, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Callum Gibbins (captain), 6 Leone Nakarawa, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Rob Harley, 3 Oliver Kebble, 2 Grant Stewart, 1 Aki Seiuli
Replacements: 16 Mesu Dolokoto, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Ewan Mcquillan, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Niko Matawalu
Dragons: 15 Joe Goodchild, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Rhodri Williams (captain), 8 Harrison Keddie, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Huw Taylor, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Ellis Shipp, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Max Williams, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Connor Edwards, 23 Jacob Botica
Referee: Seán Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ian Kenny (Scotland), Oisin Quinn (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Match report by @PRO14Official
