Franco Smith's Glasgow show their championship credentials
REACTION: There are new leaders in the United Rugby Championship in the shape of Glasgow Warriors who are now the only unbeaten team in the competition.
They went top on Friday night by claiming a 29-20 bonus point win over the Lions at Scotstoun and stayed there with previous frontrunners Edinburgh going down to their first defeat of the season at the hands of Benetton.
For the second round in a row, Glasgow left it late.
Last weekend, they snatched victory away to Benetton with a 78th minute try. This time, the decisive touchdown came in the 76th minute.
Fullback Ollie Smith was the man to cross with George Horne then landing two shots at goal to seal the win and deny the Lions a losing bonus point.
“We came out pretty hot in the first half. Then, in the second half, they held on to the ball and put us under pressure,” Scotland squad scrumhalf Horne said.
“We killed ourselves, giving away too many penalties and they ended up scoring. All the momentum was against us.
“But the main thing is we came back in. The scrum dug us out at the end and we are just buzzing to get the five points.
“I am really proud of the boys. The experienced guys stepped up to bring us over the line.”
Head coach Franco Smith commented: “I expected it to be a fight from the start.
“The Lions rolled out a classy outfit.
“I don’t think they were missing many people. So I wasn’t surprised with the effort from them.”
Smith was without 11 of the 19 Glasgow players selected for Scotland’s Nations Championship campaign, making the victory over a strong Lions side all the more creditable.
“I’m proud of everybody who contributes to prepare the boys for these important games when we are depleted,” he said.
“To see a result is really important and compliments the rugby programme. I’m really proud that the players applied themselves so well.”
