A COMFORTABLE six-try victory over hapless opponents saw Glasgow end their first block of URC games on a high last night. Benetton had beaten the Warriors at home in the first round of league fixtures, but there was never any danger of a recurrence here.
Franco Smith’s side scored three tries in each half and once they got in front their lead never looked in danger of being relinquished.
“Obviously I’m very happy with the win,” the head coach said. “I think the fact we didn’t allow them to score any points is more important than the number of points we scored.”
After a quiet beginning, the game burst into life with 10 minutes played when Sione Vailanu broke clear from a midfield breakdown. With the defence closing in and Jamie Dobie up in support, the Tongan – making his home debut – sold an outrageous dummy, then raced the rest of the way to the line before dotting down.
Domingo Miotti missed the conversion attempt.
Having seen their adventurous approach rewarded with that try, the Warriors kept up a high-tempo attacking game in search of further dividends.
Midway through the half they were just denied a second try when Sebastian Cancelliere was beaten to a ball in goal after Miotti had kicked through.
Then a penalty to touch around 10 metres out promised to produce something, but a squint throw ended the opportunity.
When they were awarded another penalty right in front of the Benetton posts, however, Glasgow rightly opted to go for the points, and Miotti duly opened his account.
After some Benetton pressure was stoutly resisted, the stand-off made his team’s second try just before the break with a kick over the top. Captain Kyle Steyn collected, drew last man Rhyno Smith, and passed to Cancelliere, who ran in unopposed. A TMO replay then showed that Smith had tackled Steyn late and high, so referee Craig Evans sent the full-back to the sin-bin.
Play resumed with Miotti’s conversion, and there was just time before the break for another Warriors score. An electric break by Josh McKay sliced through the defence, and Stafford McDowall got up in support to finish off.
That made it 20-0, and Miotti chipped in with another two points with the last kick of the half.
The first significant action of the second half saw replacement hooker Thomas Gallo sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul just after his team-mate Smith returned.
The penalty went to touch, and this time the maul made no mistake, with Fraser Brown touching down for the bonus point. Miotti was off target again with the conversion attempt.
Euan Ferrie came off the bench to join starting lock Alex Samuel in making his debut, and the pack soon produced the fifth try of the night from another line-out maul, with Vailanu finishing off.
Miotti thought he had scored his team’s sixth, but it was chalked off for a forward pass in the build-up.
Then Rufus McLean did get try No.6, eventually grounding a loose ball after the Benetton defence failed to mop up properly. Miotti’s conversion attempt came back off the post.
Scorers, Glasgow – Tries: Vailanu 2, Cancelliere, McDowall, F Brown, McLean. Cons: Miotti 2.
Pen: Miotti.
Glasgow Warriors: J McKay; S Cancelliere, K Steyn (captain), S McDowall (T Jordan 74), R McLean; D Miotti, J Dobie (S Kennedy 58); O Kebble (N McBeth 58), F Brown (J Matthews 62), M Walker (S Berghan 60), S Manjezi, A Samuel (L Bean 67), R Wilson (E Ferrie 59), G Brown, S Vailanu (J du Preez 58).
Benetton: R Smith; I Mendy, J Riera (M Watson 56), M Zanon, M Bellini; G da Re, D Duvenage (captain, A Garbisi 50), N Tetaz (T Gallo 41), F Zani (M Arroyo 47), T Pasquali (F Alongi 66), S Scrafton (M Lazzaroni 62), C Wegner, G Pettinelli (A Izekor 56), S Negri (A Steyn 62), H Time-Stowers.
Referee: C Evans (Wales). Attendance: 6,035.
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