Glasgow and Ulster play out thrilling 33-33 URC draw

WRAP: George Horne’s late penalty hit the post as Glasgow Warriors and Ulster played out a thrilling 33-33 draw in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

Ulster led 19-14 at half-time, but Glasgow struck three times in a clinical nine-minute spell while the visitors had two players in the sinbin to take control.

The Warriors were then reduced to 13 men inside the final 10 minutes, allowing Juarno Augustus to cross for Ulster, with Nathan Doak’s conversion levelling the scores.

Horne had the chance to win it for Glasgow with four minutes remaining, but his penalty came back off the upright as the points were shared at Scotstoun.

Ulster made a fast start despite losing Jacob Stockdale to a late warm-up injury before his 150th cap. Bryn Ward powered over from a short penalty in the fourth minute, with Jack Murphy converting.

Glasgow responded through Josh McKay, but Dan Lancaster was soon sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and Ulster capitalised through Ethan McIlroy.

The hosts hit back when Kyle Rowe finished a flowing move after Stafford McDowall’s superb pass, with Horne converting to put Glasgow 14-12 ahead.

Ulster regained the lead just before half-time when McIlroy produced a brilliant offload for Murphy to score. The flyhalf converted his own try to make it 19-14 at the break.

The second half produced more twists, with Glasgow’s three tries during Ulster’s double sinbin briefly putting the Warriors in command before their own disciplinary problems allowed Ulster to fight back and secure a dramatic draw.

*Dragons produced a superb second-half display to beat Welsh rivals Scarlets 38-26 and earn a first Vodacom United Rugby Championship win of the campaign.

A brace by Macs Page earned Scarlets a slender lead at the break, but Rodrigo Martinez scored straight after the restart to inspire a brilliant six-try victory for Dragons.

Elliot Dee helped himself to a double with Anzelo Tuitavuki, Huw Anderson and Rob Hunt also on the scoreboard in a bonus-point success for the hosts in Newport.

After a trip along the M4 to Rodney Parade, Scarlets started strongly with Page crossing over in the second minute during a back and forth opening 40.

Dragons replied through Tuitavuki before Dee’s try put them ahead after 23 minutes, but Page grabbed a second with Sam Costelow’s second successful conversion giving Scarlets a 14-12 half-time lead.

The hosts required a strong response and Martinez crashed over within 60 seconds of the restart and while Sam O’Connor responded for Scarlets, Anderson’s 65th-minute score was followed by further efforts for Dee and Hunt to give Dragons bragging rights in the all-Welsh clash.

Dragons 38-26 Scarlets

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Tries: Tuitavuki, Dee 2, Martinez, Anderson, Hunt
Cons: De Beer 3, Lloyd

For Scarlets:
Tries: Page 2, O’Connor, Jones
Cons: Costelow 3

Teams:

Dragons: 15 Huw Anderson, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Anzelo Tuitavuki, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Harri Keddie, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Ben Carter (captain), 4 Seb Davies, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Ryan Woodman, 20 Harry Beddall, 21 Che Hope, 22 Jac Lloyd, 23 Fetuli Paea

Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Eddie James, 11 Macs Page, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Osian Williams, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Josh Macleod (captain), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Groves, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Gabe Hawley, 19 Will Evans, 20 Tristan Davies, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Johnny Williams.

Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (WRU), Marcus Caudle (WRU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)

Glasgow Warriors 33-26 Ulster

The scorers:

For Glasgow:
Tries: McKay, Rowe 2, Dobie, Talakai
Cons: G Horne 4

For Ulster:
Tries: Ward, McIlroy, Murphy, Mullins
Cons: Murphy 3

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Stafford McDowall (captain), 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Angus Fraser, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Max Williamson, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Fin Richardson, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Patrick Schickerling
Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Macenzzie Duncan, 22 Callum Reidy, 23 Bayley Kuenzle

Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 Ethan McIlroy, 12 Jamie Benson, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Matthew Devine, 8 Bryn Ward, 7 David McCann, 6 James McKillop, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Cormac Izuchukwu, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Tom Stewart (captain), 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Tom McAllister, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Ben Donnell, 20 James McNabney, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Juarno Augustus

Referee: Christopher Allison (SARU)
Assistant referees: Jonny MacKenzie (SRU), Sam O’Neil (SRU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)