Glasgow Warriors 47
Newport Gwent Dragons 17
IT HAS been a strange season so far for Glasgow: one in which the usual order of things has been stood on its head. After six years of reaching the PRO12 play-offs, they remain in grave danger of missing out, while after a far longer period of underachievement in Europe, they have enjoyed their best-ever pool performance and are through to the Champions Cup quarter-finals as a result.
The unavailability of key players during the international window has something to do with that stark contrast between competitions, of course. Of the 15 men who began the magnificent 43-0 demolition of Leicester back in January, for example, only four started on Saturday against the Dragons.
Yet those problems have been there for a while, the Warriors are not the only team to be confronted by them, and in previous seasons they have found a way round them. The vagaries of the fixture list have played a part, but after this convincing victory Gregor Townsend accepted that some results have simply been a case of players not playing well enough.
“When we saw the fixture list we knew it would be tough,” the head coach said. “We knew it would be really hard and would really test our resources, but I don’t think we played as well as we could have - as well as what this group is capable of.
“At the front of your mind there’s disappointment. In the back of your mind there’s encouragement. We were missing so many players, but we were still disappointed not to come away from Ospreys with a win, or from Ulster with a better performance.”
After losing those two games and also going down to the Scarlets last month, the Warriors needed to get back on course against the Dragons, and they did so after a curious first quarter in which little went right for them. The Welsh side took the lead with a penalty and added a converted try before Glasgow got their act together, but when they did there was no stopping them.
Two converted tries from the outstanding Nick Grigg put the home team in front at the break, and Rory Hughes and Ratu Tagive made sure of the bonus point in the early stages of the second half. Lee Jones, Mark Bennett and Peter Horne were all on the scoresheet too, and the stand-off had an excellent day with the boot, converting all of his team’s tries bar the Jones score. A late Dragons try was no more than a minor annoyance.
“There was a period of 45 or 50 minutes when we scored 47 points without reply,” second-row Tim Swinson said. “The team we had out was a mixture of guys coming back from Scotland, guys who have been here for a short time and guys who have been here for a longer time and not played for a few weeks. So it was good that we got a little bit of teething problems out of the way, then when we found our rhythm in the middle period we were pretty good - pretty effective at playing at pace, which was fantastic to see.”
The Warriors should have most if not all of their internationals back for the next league match against Connacht - although the luckless Richie Vernon may be out for some time, having been taken off with what was thought to be achilles damage just before half-time. But even if they win all of their remaining games with bonus points, their final tally will be 71 points. That total should easily be bettered by the current top three - Leinster, Ospreys and Munster - leaving the Warriors needing to overtake both Ulster and Scarlets.
“We’ll see how the other teams do,” Townsend added. “Scarlets have had a fantastic Six Nations period and they had a great win away to Munster. We all realise that it’s going to have to be wins from here in. If we can do that then that might put us in with a chance.”
Ulster have a game in hand, and their next three matches, against Zebre, Dragons and Cardiff, are all potential five-pointers. But they have a tough run-in, away to Munster and Ospreys, then home to Leinster, so could yet falter.
The Scarlets are at home to Edinburgh and Treviso, away to the Dragons and Connacht, then finally at home to the Ospreys. They only have five bonus points to date - the fewest in the top half of the league - and that could prove a crucial blow to their top-four hopes.
The Warriors squad, of course, will not concern themselves with the arithmetical permutations. “We’re rugby players: maths isn’t our strong suit usually,” Swinson said. “The point is we’ve just got to go through and win.
“Results like this where we’ve got five points are fantastic. If we do that until the end of the season then we’re putting ourselves into the best state to get into the play-offs. So that’s what we’ve got to aim for.”
Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: Grigg 2, Hughes, Tagive, Jones, Bennett, Horne. Cons: Horne 6.
Dragons: Tries: Landman, Morgan. Cons: O’Brien, Jones. Pen: O’Brien.
Referee: A Brace (Ireland). Attendance: 7096.
GLASGOW’S REMAINING LEAGUE GAMES
25 March: Connacht (H)
8 April: Munster (A)
14 April: Zebre (H)
28/29 April (date tbc): Leinster (A)
6 May: Edinburgh (H)
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