Warriors ease past Blues
PRO14 REPORT: Niko Matawalu marked his 100th appearance for Glasgow Warriors with two tries as they cruised past Cardiff Blues 40-15.
The Fijian winger notched the second of four first-half scores for the Scottish side, as Adam Ashe, Callum Gibbins and Tommy Seymour all crossed to ensure they had a bonus point before the break at Scotstoun Stadium.
Kristian Dacey looked to spark a comeback with an early second-half score for the Blues, but it was quickly cancelled out by Rory Hughes.
Fly-half Jarrod Evans had 10 points on the night for the Welsh side, including a try after an hour before Matawalu grabbed his second late on.
It started well for Cardiff with Evans giving them an early 3-0 lead with a penalty when Glasgow was penalised at the breakdown.
Glasgow had two great chances in the next 10 minutes but only converted one.
Nick Grigg thundered through the midfield and released scrum half Ali Price but Cardiff full-back Tom Williams made a despairing tackle and knocked the ball loose, halting the Scottish sides’ attack.
But it was in vein as just minutes later strong phase play gave a platform for Ruaridh Jackson to make a half break and offload to Ashe who dived over. Horne added the conversion to make it 7-3.
The home side added a second try six minutes later with Matawalu crossing for the second consecutive game week.
It came from a strong line-out before the Fijian picked his angle to break past the defence and step the fullback to dab down – Horne added the extras to make it 14-3.
Glasgow continued to dominate and it was openside flanker Gibbins who got in on the try action just before the half-hour mark.
The Scottish side had a quick tap which went through the hands before the back-rower stretched over the whitewash when he looked like he was going to fall short. Another Horne kick made it 21-3.
They secured the bonus point before half-time through Tommy Seymour.
British and Irish Lion Seymour was set free by Grigg on the outside, who offloaded to his support runner who dabbed down under the posts. Horne added the extras to make it 28-3 at the break.
Dacey made it a much better start to the second half for the Welsh side.
The hooker touched after a strong driving line-out just after the break to make it 28-8.
But it wasn’t long before Glasgow grabbed another score, this time with replacement winger Hughes crossing for the home side to increase their lead.
Evans added seven points all of his own on the hour mark, showing his power and agility to touch down before kicking his own conversion to reduce arrears.
Matawalu would score his second 10 minutes before the end. He showed his defence instincts to pick off a wayward pass before dashing over to score with Horne adding the extras to make it 40-15.
The scorers:
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Ashe, Matawalu 2, Gibbins, Seymour, Hughes
Cons: Horne 5
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Dacey, Evans
Con: Evans
Pen: Evans
The teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Pete Horne, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (captain), 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Rob Harley, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Kevin Bryce, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Matt Smith, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Rory Hughes.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Tom Williams, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams (captain), 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Seb Davies, 4 George Earle, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer.
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 James Down, 20 Sion Bennett, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Harri Millard.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), Ian Kenny (Scotland)
TMO: Charles Samson (Scotland)
Source: @PRO14Official
What a first half from @GlasgowWarriors who have the bonus point in the bag already
They are in control against @cardiff_blues 👍#GUINNESSPRO14 #GLAvCBL pic.twitter.com/dQbAyMDGm1
— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) November 23, 2018
