GLASGOW sit proudly on top of Champions Cup Pool One this morning after a sensational win over Racing 92 last night. They may only be there until later today, as Munster could regain top spot with a win over Leicester, but on this form Gregor Townsend’s team will fear neither of those opponents when they come to face them in next month’s two final rounds of pool games.
Josh Strauss, Fraser Brown and Ali Price got the tries, with the other points coming from man of the match Finn Russell through a conversion and two penalties. Racing only scored in the dying minutes, but while Glasgow will be no more than mildly annoyed by their failure to keep a clean sheet, their inability to score a fourth try and claim a bonus point could in the end turn out to be more costly.
It would be curmudgeonly, however, to dwell on such a point after such a first-rate display. Six days after beating the same opponents 23-14 in Paris, Glasgow racked up the same number of points, but in a different style, taking the game to Racing with some hugely inventive running rugby.
After being forced to defend for the first few minutes, Glasgow drew first blood in sensational style. Russell chipped ahead, Tommy Seymour gathered, ran on and passed to Stuart Hogg, and then the full-back popped the ball up to Strauss as he was being grounded in the tackle. Strauss flopped over the line to celebrate his 100th appearance in style.
Russell was off the mark with the conversion attempt, but it was an excellent start nonetheless, and convinced Glasgow that their decision to run the ball at Racing was correct. Further vindication came after quarter of an hour, when Russell passed to Fraser Brown and the hooker burst through the first tackle then made an unstoppable charge to the line from the edge of the 22. This time the two points were added, putting the home team a dozen points to the good.
At that stage Racing looked stunned, perhaps in equal measure by the speed of the unfamiliar 3G pitch and the panache with which Glasgow were taking the game to them. A Russell penalty put them further behind after half an hour, and then they were only saved from conceding a third try in the half when Teddy Thomas just got hold of Hogg with the line almost in reach.
Just before half-time the Racing scrum conceded another penalty after being forced backwards, and Russell’s successful kick made it 18-0 at the break - a score that surely only the most wildly optimistic Warriors fan could have predicted. Racing thought they had broken their duck in the last play of the half when Marc Andreu tried to ground in the left corner under pressure from Seymour, but a TV review showed the winger had failed to ground the ball.
Racing replaced both their props at the start of the second half, but the new front-row men did nothing to slow the one-way traffic, never mind change the direction. The Warriors began that half with all the attacking intent they had shown in the first, and they were rewarded eight minutes in with their third try of the game. A flurry of phases took the home team ever closer to the line, and scrum-half Ali Price finished off the move with an opportunistic strike.
Responding at last with a coherent attack, Racing were close to opening their account as former Glasgow lock Leone Nakarawa kept the ball alive deep in the home 22. But the Warriors proved every bit as resolute in defence as they had been attack, and the danger was snuffed out when they held a ball-carrier up to be awarded a scrum. Twice more in the following five minutes Racing were on or over the Glasgow line, but on each occasion they were stripped of the ball.
Price became the first Warriors player to be substituted, and he was given a well-deserved standing ovation as he left the pitch to be replaced by Henry Pyrgos. Dan Carter, the 2015 World Player of the Year, was next to have his evening ended early, having been completely overshadowed by Russell.
Price’s score had ended the match as a contest, and long before the end Racing looked a sorry bunch, with the late try by Xavier Chauveau, converted by his fellow-substitute Benjamin Dambielle, being only a faint consolation. They have now played three and lost three, and have no more than a faint academic hope of qualifying for the quarter-final. The Warriors’ prospects, by contrast, are a lot brighter.
Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: Strauss, Brown, Price. Con: Russell. Pens: Russell 2.
Racing: Try: Chauveau. Con: Dambielle.
Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg; T Seymour, A Dunbar, S Johnson (M Bennett 64), L Jones; F Russell, A Price (H Pyrgos 57); G Reid (A Allan 70), F Brown, Z Fagerson (S Puafisi 64), T Swinson, J Gray, R Harley, R Wilson, J Strauss (C Fusaro 70). Unused substitutes: C Flynn, B Alainu’uese, S Lamont.
Racing 92: B Dulin; T Thomas, C Laulala, A Tuitavake (J Rokocoko 17), M Andreu; D Carter (B Dambielle 61), M Machenaud (X Chauveau 61); V Afatia (E Ben Arous 41), C Chat (D Szarzewski 53), B Tameifuna (C Gomes Sa 41), G Grobler, F van der Merwe (T Dubarry 53), W Lauret (A Claassen 72), C Masoe, L Nakarawa.
Referee: G Clancy (Ireland). Attendance: 7351.
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