Lions fall short after thrilling fightback against Franco Smith's Glasgow

MATCH REPORT: The Lions ended their tour without a win after a 20-29 defeat to Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship Round Five encounter in Scotland on Friday.

Ivan van Rooyen’s side were 3-19 down at the break before scoring three second-half tries to take a 20-19 lead after 70 minutes.

However, the hosts had the stronger finish with a try from Ollie Smith and a penalty goal from George Horne, which meant the Lions left Scotstoun Stadium without any log points.

It was the Lions’ fourth defeat in a row in all competitions and their third straight defeat on tour after they were beaten by La Rochelle (Champions Cup) and Edinburgh (URC).

Glasgow thought they opened the scoring in the fifth minute as Bayley Kuenzle raced into the corner. However, he was foiled by a great try-saving tackle from Quan Horn.

The home side eventually got their score after some expensive play from flyhalf Dan Lancaster, who sent a cross-kick to Fergus Watson, and the winger had the pace and power to run in for a five-pointer.

The Lions got their first points a few minutes later from a Chris Smith penalty goal.

A series of brilliant offloads cut the Lions open again, and it ended with Lancaster going over for his team’s second try.

The visitors suffered another blow in the 34th minute when Etienne Oosthuizen was shown a yellow card for a judo flip on Fin Richardson.

It was all too easy for the Warriors on attack, and Horne opened up the Lions again with a sniping run before sending the ball to Jack Singleton, who scored the third try.

At half-time, it was a 16-point lead for Glasgow.

The visitors applied plenty of pressure on the opening stages of the second half, and they were rewarded when Springbok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg found his way to the tryline.

The home crowd was silenced in the 65th minute after Kelly Mpeku intercepted a Glasgow pass before giving the ball to Siba Mahashe, who beat the home side’s defenders to score in the corner.

Boeta Chamberlain missed the conversion, but the Lions were only four points behind with 15 minutes left on the clock.

The Lions eventually found themselves in front in the 70th minute after Morne Brandon powered over the tryline from a driving maul.

However, the match swung in Glasgow’s favour in the 75th minute after a clever pass from Stafford McDowall sent Ollie Smith in to score the bonus-point try.

To rub salt in the Lions’ wounds, Horne converted a penalty into three points to take the bonus point away from the visitors.

Man of the match: Glasgow’s wings were brilliant to watch throughout the 80 minutes. Our award goes to Fergus Watson, who broke through the Lions’ defence on several occasions and scored one of his team’s four tries.

The scorers:

For Glasgow Warriors:
Try: Watson, Lancaster, Singleton, Smith
Con: Horne 3
Pen: Horne

For Lions:
Try: Van den Berg, Mahashe, Brandon
Con: Chamberlain
Pen: Smith

Yellow card: Etienne Oosthuizen (Lions, 34′ – foul play)

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Bayley Kuenzle, 13 Johnny Ventisei, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Fergus Watson, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 George Horne, 8 Euan Ferrie, 7 Macenzzie Duncan, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Jare Oguntibeju, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Fin Richardson, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Jake Shearer.
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Patrick Schickerling, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Seb Stephen, 22 Callum Reidy, 23 Cameron van Wyk.

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horne (captain), 7 Siba Qoma, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Tiaan Lange, 1 SJ Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Richard Kriel, 23 Boeta Chamberlain.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (France)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), David Sutherland (Scotland)
TMO: Stefano Penne (France)