Glasgow hold off Munster to extend lead over Stormers
FRIDAY WRAP: Glasgow survived a second-half fightback by Munster to cement their position at the top of the United Rugby Championship with a 31-22 victory at Scotstoun.
Warriors looked out of sight by the interval after racing 28-5 ahead through tries by Ollie Smith, Dan Lancaster, Olujare Oguntibeju and Josh McKay.
And with Lancaster converting all four touchdowns, the champions appeared to be in an unassailable position with the try-scoring bonus point already banked.
But Munster, who crossed through Ethan Coughlan in the first half, came on strong with Dan Kelly, Brian Gleeson and Diarmuid Kilgallen breaching the whitewash in the space of 16 minutes.
Glasgow’s lead had been cut to 28-22, and sensing the danger, Lancaster rifled over a 75th-minute penalty to ease the tension.
Munster were denied the losing bonus point but left Scotstoun with a point after scoring four tries.
Glasgow extended their lead over the Stormers to eight points at the top of the standings. The Capetonians are in action against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
Nicolas Roger Farias missed a last-gasp penalty that cost Benetton victory in a 20-20 draw with Scarlets at Stadio Comunale di Monigo.
The Italian club won a penalty close to the halfway line with the clock having run out, but Argentina flyhalf Ferias’ attempt was short, having missed another tricky kick two minutes earlier.
It was part of a dramatic climax to a match that was played in thick fog that descended on Treviso for the second half.
Macs Page levelled the score five minutes earlier after linking well with Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, who was then guilty of a costly missed conversion.
A rollercoaster encounter saw the lead regularly change hands, with Gareth Davies and Tomi Lewis also touching down for Scarlets after the break.
The rivals also played out a 20-20 draw in the same fixture last season, with Farias’ wayward boot coming to Scarlets’ rescue on this occasion.
Glasgow Warriors 31-22 Munster
The scorers:
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Smith, Lancaster, Oguntibeju, McKay
Cons: Lancaster 4
Pen: Lancaster
For Munster:
Tries: Coughlan, Kelly, Gleeson, Kilgallen
Con: Wood
Yellow cards: Thaakir Abrahams (Munster, 39′ – cynical play, deliberate knock-on); Jack O’Donoghue (Munster, 83′ – repeated infringements)
Teams
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Stafford McDowall (captain), 12 Kerr Yule, 11 Ollie Smith, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 Ben Afshar, 8 Ally Miller, 7 Angus Fraser, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Jare Oguntibeju, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Seb Stephen, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Dylan Cockburn, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Macenzzie Duncan, 22 Jack Oliver, 23 Matthew Urwin.
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Thaakir Abrahams, 13 Shane Daly, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 10 Tony Butler, 9 Ethan Coughlan, 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 Ruadhán Quinn, 6 Seán Edogbo, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Evan O’Connell, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Diarmuid Barron (captain), 1 Mark Donnelly.
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 John Ryan, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Gavin Coombes, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tom Wood, 23 Seán O’Brien.
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ian Kenny (Scotland), David Sutherland (Scotland)
TMO: Adam Jones (Wales)
Benetton 20-20 Scarlets
The scorers:
For Benetton:
Tries: Odogwu, Garbisi
Cons: Smith, Farias
Pens: Smith 2
For Scarlets:
Tries: G Davies, Lewis, Page
Con: Jones
Pen: Jones
Teams:
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Nicolas Roger Farias, 9 Andy Uren (captain), 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 Jadin Kingi, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Giulio Marini, 3 Marcos Gallorini, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Destiny Aminu, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Nelson Casartelli, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Matt Gallagher, 23 Filippo Drago.
Scarlets: 15 Jac Davies, 14 Macs Page, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams (captain), 11 Tomi Lewis, 10 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Max Douglas, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Jac Price, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Josh Morse, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Billy McBryde, 23 Iori Badham.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Clara Munarini (Italy), Bisetto Luca (Italy)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Photo credit: @GlasgowWarriors
