Warriors grind out narrow victory

MATCH REPORT: Glasgow Warriors managed to edge out Leinster and improve their spot among the leaders of the United Rugby Championship with a close 17-15 victory on Friday evening.

Warriors remain second in the URC table, with Scarlets in sixth.

Scarlets were left to rue missed opportunities against the defending champions.

Skipper Josh Macleod and fullback Ioan Nicholas were on the try sheet for the Scarlets, who led until the final 15 minutes. They showed resilience in defence and the set-piece got on top late on.

But it was a relieved Glasgow who secured the victory in a gripping final few minutes.

The second quarter saw Glasgow dominate territory and possession, making the most of indiscipline from the Welsh side.

But time and again the Scarlets pack held them out – the fit-again Vaea Fifita disrupting at the front of the line, then Dan Davis bursting clear from another defensive line-out.

The champions, though, did hit back before the interval after the Scarlets were reduced to 14 men on 32 minutes.

Prop Alec Hepburn was the player to see yellow for a high challenge and the pressure eventually led to prolific-scoring hooker Johnny Matthews driving over from short range.

Replacement Duncan Weir was on for the injured Adam Hastings, and the extras were added.

Warriors upped the tempo and although they butchered numerous lineouts close to the Scarlets line, they eventually burst the dam after a passage of extraordinary Welsh defence, Matthews going over to make it a one-point game at the break.

Glasgow was in the lead for the first time at 65 minutes when Weir landed a penalty following a Scarlets offside.

Scarlets threw everything into the final exchanges, with their scrum on the offensive, but they were unable to secure a victory.

Lloyd had a long-range effort to win the game in the 78th minute, but his effort drifted wide in a heartbreaking finale.

The scorers:

For Glasgow:
Tries: Matthews, Weir
Cons: Weir, Venter
Pens: Weir

For Scarlets:
Tries: Macleod, Nicholas
Cons: Lloyd
Pens: Lloyd

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Stafford McDowall (captain) 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Mann, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Jare Oguntibeju, 3 Fin Richardson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Patrick Schickerling.
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Macenzzie Duncan, 20 Gregor Huddleston, 21 Angus Fraser, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Duncan Weir.

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Macs Page, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Blair Murray, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Josh Macleod (captain), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Max Douglas, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Efan Jones, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Eddie James.

Referee: Fillipo Russo (Italy)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Ru Campbell (Scotland)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Scotland)