Warriors win ten-try thriller in Cardiff
PRO14 REPORT: Glasgow Warriors held off a dramatic late fightback from Conference A rivals Cardiff Blues to prevail 38-34 after a rollercoaster encounter at Arms Park saw the sides share ten tries.
Tries from Nick Grigg, Ali Price, Pete Horne, Nick Frisby and David Tameilau appeared to put the visitors on course for a comfortable bonus-point victory in the Welsh capital.
But the Blues almost staged an unlikely comeback after Aled Summerhill completed his hat-trick and Garyn Smith added a fifth try in the closing minutes following Owen Lane’s first-half effort.
Cardiff went into the game with a poor record against Glasgow, with just one win in their last 15 clashes, but struck early after a fine break from Jarrod Evans put Lane away.
And while Lane was unable to finish off the move after being stopped before the line, Cardiff moved the ball to the left and in-from centre Harri Millard chipped through for Summerhill to score.
Evans converted to give the hosts an early 7-0 lead as they looked to get revenge having lost to the Warriors both home and away in this season’s Champions Cup.
However, Glasgow responded with a near 40m penalty from flyhalf Peter Horne before taking the lead with their opening try on 14 minutes through Grigg.
A cross-kick from Evans saw the ball break for Ruaridh Jackson and the Warriors fullback found himself in space just outside his 22, with a simple inside pass putting Grigg in for the score.
Horne converted and a second try followed just moments later when scrumhalf Price sprinted over the whitewash unopposed from distance, with the conversion making it 17-7.
Blues were now on the backfoot and they conceded a third try on the half-hour, with Horne dotting down after Glasgow disrupted a Cardiff ruck and put the ball through the hands.
The hosts managed to give themselves hope on the cusp of half-time, though, going through the phases before Matthew Morgan’s break allowed Summerhill to go over for his second try.
Evans converted to cut the deficit to 24-14 at the interval, which was further narrowed to five points after the restart as the Blues shot out of the blocks once again.
Just as they had done in the first half, the hosts scored the opening try of the half with Evans and Morgan combining brilliantly to put Lane in for an unconverted score.
Evans then slotted a penalty after the Glasgow scrum wilted under pressure to make it a two-point game, with another effort to draw the sides level falling short on the hour.
But just as it looked as though momentum was tipping in Cardiff’s favour, Warriors hit back with two tries in 60 seconds to reassert their dominance and secure the victory.
Frisby bagged the bonus-point try after a snipe and drive under the sticks, before replacement Tameilau finished a brilliant counterattack launched by a hooker George Turner.
Cardiff were nowhere near done yet, though. Summerhill claimed his hat-trick after sprinting on to a kick from Evans, before Garyn Smith completed the scoring on 77 minutes.
The hosts continued to look for another try to snatch the spoils, but Warriors saw out the final minutes as the Blues were forced to settle for two bonus points.
The scorers:
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Summerhill 3, Lane, Smith
Cons: Evans 3
Pen: Evans
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Horne, Grigg, Price, Frisby, Tameilau
Cons: Horne 5
Pen: Horne
Teams:
Cardiff: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey (captain), 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Dan Fish, 23 Garyn Smith.
Glasgow: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Pete Horne, 9 Ali Price, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Thomas Gordon, 6 Rob Harley (captain), 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Alex Allan.
Replacements: 16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Tevita Tamielau, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Robbie Nairn.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse, Jonny Erskine (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
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