Glasgow player ratings: Kyle Steyn ‘epitomises’ Warriors’ spirit in historic win despite forward’s ‘brainless’ act
Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn and an inset of centre Huw Jones (INPHO/Dave Winter/EPCR Rugby)
Following Glasgow Warriors’ historic 33-21 Investec Champions Cup victory over Clermont, here’s how we rated Franco Smith’s men at the Stade Marcel-Michelin.
Glasgow Warriors player ratings
15 Kyle Rowe: Some scathing breaks through the Clermont defence, making good use of his blistering pace. Remained cool at the back while countering well. Pitched in with two try assists. 8
14 Kyle Steyn (c): A lovely lineout grab and pass led to Ferrie’s try, which was a great bit of trickery from the Warriors. Put the result to bed with a late try, his second, where he simply kept his width well. Crowned Man of the Match and rightly so, after another strong all-round performance that epitomises what the Scottish outfit is all about. 9
13 Huw Jones: Marked his return with a well-taken try, capping off a bright opening 20 minutes back in Glasgow colours. Made the right decision with ball in hand more often than not and racked up 90 metres on attack – a match-high. 7
12 Sione Tuipulotu: His brilliant short passing game unlocked the Clermont defence, leading to the try that sealed the bonus point and ultimately the win. Looked sharp and happy to be reunited with Jones. 6
11 Jamie Dobie: Continued his fine run of form, even when double-jobbing as a scrum-half and winger for 10 minutes. He proved to be a real handful in attack. Bautista Delguy causes havoc for the best of wingers, but Dobie rose to that challenge. 7
10 Dan Lancaster: A few errors here and there, but ultimately, an assured performance which included a try assist. Fronted up defensively, missing just two tackles even though Clermont flooded his channel at times. Linked up well in attack, too. 7
9 George Horne: Added lineout lifter to his CV as he held Steyn in the air from the set-piece, but will be kicking himself that he cost his side a penalty try and spent 10 minutes in the sin bin. Always great value in supporting a break and off the tee. 5
The forwards
8 Jack Dempsey: The double finger-gun celebration was evident as he dotted down in the 34th minute, which was duly deserved considering the workload he got through by then. He continued in that manner in the second half on both sides of the ball. The loose trio deserve a lot of credit for the historic win at Clermont. 8
7 Matt Fagerson: Just a bit too upright and held up in the latter stages, but the Warriors got the try soon after anyway. That should not take away from what was another rock-solid, effective and powerful shift. 8
6 Euan Ferrie: Sensational on the deck, grabbed a try and joined his back-row partners in racking up a massive tackle count. The 24-year-old’s stocks continue to rise and rightly so. Another huge shift. 8
5 Scott Cummings: The Glasgow tight-five is built around being ruthlessly efficient, and Cummings typifies that. He does what is required of him in all facets of the game and with little to no errors. 6
4 Alex Craig: Ticked the boxes required of him for just under 50 minutes. Made a mammoth 16 tackles in that time and missed one. Was utilised in the lineouts and was effective at the breakdown. Nothing flashy, but Glasgow doesn’t require anything like that from him. 6
3 Zander Fagerson: Give and take in the scrums, to his credit, more of the latter. Handy defensively, particularly around the fringes, plus he was a wilful and effective carrier. After such a long injury lay-off, it’s great to see the Scotland international fit and firing. 7
2 Gregor Hiddleston: His lineout throws were mostly accurate, helped by the creativity around the set-piece. Did all of his core duties and did them well without fuss. 6
1 Patrick Schickerling: While he held his own for the most part in the scrums, he was sin-binned for a frankly brainless action as he was quite clearly offside as he made the tackle. Horne joined him in the bin and the Warriors conceded a penalty try – a triple whammy. Irae Simone’s try right at the end of the double sin-binning period rubbed salt into the wounds. Lucky for him, it wasn’t detrimental to the final result. 5
Replacements: Clermont gained the ascendancy in the second half, but the double sin-binning played a huge role in that. Gregor Brown put in another mighty shift and made the break leading to the fourth try. Seb Stephen also had a bright moment. The bench didn’t blow the French outfit off the park but did enough to hold out for the win. 6
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.