Steyn helps Glasgow floor Dragons
MATCH REPORT: Glasgow Warriors came from behind to record a 27-16 victory over the Dragons at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Tries from Kyle Steyn, Ross Thompson, George Turner and Kiran McDonald helped Warriors get over the line while Thompson also contributed seven points from the kicking tee.
Aneurin Owen scored the Dragons’ only try, with Sam Davies kicking 11 points.
Glasgow centre Nick Grigg had an early try disallowed after Scotland and British & Irish Lions tighthead prop Zander Fagerson was penalised for leading with his forearm into Gonzalo Bertranou.
The disallowed try halted Glasgow’s momentum and handed it to the Dragons, who struck soon after with Wales Under-20s centre Owen ghosting past Grigg to score after a lovely flat pass from Davies, who was also successful with the conversion.
Davies extended the home side’s lead as the game moved into the second quarter with a penalty from 30 metres.
Thompson replied with a terrific penalty from 45 metres on an angle but the Warriors struggled to cope with the home side’s pace and tempo.
The visitors were put back under severe pressure as the Dragons lay siege to their try line but Glasgow’s defence prevented Dean Ryan’s side from crossing the line.
However, Dragons playmaker Davies’ game management was top class as he kept the scoreboard ticking over with a well-taken drop goal.
Glasgow finished the first half strongly as they tried to force their way over the Dragons line from short range.
They finally managed to breach their opponents’ defensive wall, with some subtle hands doing the trick as the ball was flung wide for Steyn to touch down.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts with referee Chris Busby deciding to send Ross Moriarty to the sin bin for a no-arms tackle.
The game turned completely on its head with arguably the try of the Rainbow Cup to date.
A superb line break from Turner put the visitors on the front foot before unleashing Scott Cummings.
The giant second row executed a gorgeous offload to Ali Price, who put Thompson over for a try which he also converted meaning the visitors turned around with a 15-13 lead.
Turner had a try disallowed straight after half-time after a successful captain’s challenge from the Dragons spotted a knock on.
But he didn’t have to wait long to cross the try line for real as he touched down from short range following a well-organised driving lineout. Thompson knocked over the conversion from the touchline to push the visitors out into a nine-point lead.
Glasgow then had a third try disallowed with the captain’s challenge again to blame, with obstruction from Adam Hastings ruling out what would have been a good try from Price.
A late penalty from Davies gave the Dragons a small glimmer of hope but it was too little too late.
The scorers:
For Dragons
Try: Owen
Con: Davies
Pen: Davies
Drop Goal: Davies
For Glasgow Warriors
Tries: Steyn, Thompson, Turner, McDonald
Cons: Thompson
Pen: Thompson
Teams:
Dragons: 15 Ioan Davies, 14 Jonah Holmes, 13 Jack Dixon, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Ross Moriarty (captain), 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Dan Babos, 22 Evan Lloyd, 23 Jamie Roberts.
Glasgow: 15 Adam Hastings, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Cole Forbes, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Ryan Wilson (captain), 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Rob Harley, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Aki Seiuli.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Tom Lambert, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Fotu Lokotui, 21 George Horne, 22 Stafford McDowall, 23 Rufus McLean.
Referee: Chris Busby
Assistant Referees: Ben Whitehouse, Craig Evans
TMO: Dan Jones (WRU)
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