Glasgow Warriors too strong for Cardiff Blues
Glasgow Warriors proved too strong for Cardiff Blues as they claimed a deserved 29-12 win in their Champions Cup clash at Cardiff Arms Park on Sunday.
The Warriors were full value for their victory as they dominated from the outset and eventually outscored their hosts by four tries to two with Adam Hastings leading the way with a 14-point haul courtesy of a try, three conversions and a penalty.
The result is a significant one as it means Glasgow move above Cardiff into second spot in Pool Three, four points adrift of Saracens.
The visitors made a terrific start and scored two excellent tries inside the first five minutes. The Warriors showed their intentions from the kick off, and after giving the ball plenty of air, Hastings glided through a gap in the Blues’ defence before crossing for the opening try.
Two minutes later, Glasgow crossed the whitewash again – DTH van der Merwe rounding off after running onto a pass from Huw Jones, who tore the home side’s defence to shreds with a fine break in the build-up.
The next 20 minutes was less frantic as Cardiff were more settled on defence but they still went further behind in the 25th minute when Hastings added a penalty after Nick Williams was blown up for a breakdown infringement.
There was little interesting to report during the rest of the half which meant the visitors held a 15-0 lead at half-time.
Glasgow started the second half in similar fashion to the first and three minutes after the restart Van der Merwe made a brilliant line break before offloading to Ali Price, who cantered in for their third try.
Shortly afterwards, Cardiff Blues opened their account courtesy of an Aled Summerhill try. This, after Jarrod Evans stabbed a perfectly weighted grubber kick through behind Warriors’ defence which Summerhill gathered before diving over.
And just like the opening half, the next 20 minutes was an arm wrestle – with the home side holding a slight edge – but neither side would trouble the scoreboard during this period.
However, in the 68th minute, the Warriors launched a counter-attack from deep inside their half with Hastings and Van der Merwe prominent and they were soon close to the Blues’ 22. The ball was recycled quickly before Hastings delivered an inch-perfect grubber kick which Matt Fagerson gathered and he did well to get a pass out to Jonny Gray, who dotted down under the posts.
That secured the visitors a bonus point and the result although Cardiff continued to fight and they were rewarded when Summerhill crossed for his second try in the 78th minute which added some respectability to the final score.
The scorers:
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Summerhill 2
Con: Anscombe
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Hastings, Van der Merwe, Price, Gray
Cons: Hastings 3
Pen: Hastings
Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Olly Robinson, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 George Earle, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Samu Manoa, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Matthew Morgan
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Tommy Seymour, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (cc), 6 Ryan Wilson (cc), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Rob Harley, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 George Horne, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Niko Matawalu
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Jonathan Healy (England)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)