Glasgow climb to fourth place

Editor

Glasgow moved up to fourth spot in the PRO12 standings after they claimed a 29-15 bonus-point win over Cardiff Blues at Scotstoun.

The home side dominated all aspects of the opening exchanges and took the lead through a try from Pat MacArthur.

Cardiff Blues struck back with a score from Blaine Scully to send the sides into the break evenly matched.

However, Glasgow pulled away from their opponents in the second half as two tries from Peter Murchie were added to by James Malcolm.

Rhun Williams scored a consolation try for the visitors to make the score-line at least a more respectable 29-15.

The win takes the Warriors into the top four, one point clear of Scarlets in fifth. Cardiff, meanwhile, suffer their seventh defeat of the season and remain seventh.

Glasgow dominated the opening exchanges and were finally rewarded for their efforts in the 13th minute. MacArthur powered over the line from close range to put the hosts into a deserved lead. Finn Russell added the extras to make the score 7-0.

Russell added a penalty from under the posts in the 34th minute as the Warriors continued to pile the pressure on the Welsh side's defence. 

Cardiff Blues hit back in the 39th minute with a try of their own. Scully seized upon a loose kick forward by the hosts and proceeded to power his way towards the try-line before finishing in the corner. Steve Shingler added the conversion with the last kick of the half to make it 10-7 at the interval.

The Blues fly-half was on target once more after the break, this time scoring a penalty. In the 46th minute he found the posts from far wide on the right-hand side. This brought parity to the scoresheet at 10-10.

Glasgow struck back in the 49th minute. A quick break forward from a scrum led by Tommy Seymour and Alex Dunbar was held up just short of the line. The hosts recycled the ball and Murchie stormed over to score. Russell converted to make the score 17-10.

Murchie completed his brace in the 56th minute, this try coming once more from a break. Seymour was the man driving his team forward on this occasion. Matthew Morgan took him down before the ball found its way to the full-back to score again. Russell's conversion took the score to 24-10.

Malcolm secured the bonus point with a try in the 65th minute. The replacement hooker touched down after an impressive scrum from Gregor Townsend's side. Russell failed to add the conversion before wing Williams' late consolation try made the final score 29-15.

The scorers:

For Glasgow:
Tries: MacArthur, Murchie 2, Malcolm
Cons: Russell 3
Pen: Russell

For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Scully, R Williams
Con: Shingler
Pen: Shingler

Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Josh Strauss, 5 Jonny Gray (c), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements: 16 James Malcolm, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Adam Ashe, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Sean Lamont

Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Blaine Scully, 10 Steven Shingler, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Ellis Jenkins, 5 James Down, 4 Macauley Cook, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 BJ Edwards, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Nicky Robinson, 23 Rhun Williams

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Frank Murphy (IRFU), Keith Allan (SRU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)