Scarlets beat struggling Glasgow to go two from two

Colin Newboult

Llanelli Scarlets Paul Asquith is tackled by Bath's Zach Mercer during the Champions Cup match at the Recreation Ground, Bath.

The Scarlets’ good start to the 2019/20 season continued as they overcame last season’s beaten finalists Glasgow Warriors 25-21 at Scotstoun on Friday.

It was all about the kicking of the respective fly-halves in the first half as Brandon Thomson and Dan Jones traded two penalties apiece, but the Welsh region took control in the third quarter.

Although Thomson kicked another three-pointer, quick-fire tries from Kieran Hardy, Paul Asquith and Steff Evans put the 2018 runners-up in command.

Dave Rennie’s outfit showed plenty of spirit and gave themselves hope through Thomson and Stafford McDowall, but it was not enough as they succumbed for the second week in succession.

Glasgow endured an abysmal start to the campaign in Round One, going down 48-14 to the Cheetahs, and some of those frailties were once again in evidence versus Brad Mooar’s men.

Without their World Cup stars, the Scottish outfit are lacking fluency in attack, while their defence has been breached far too easily.

Despite a better final 20 minutes, the Warriors will need a vast improvement over the coming weeks if they are to at least repeat their performance from 2018/19.

The hosts were lacklustre from the start, even though Thomson opened the game’s account from the tee, and the visitors put together a couple of dangerous early moves. They ultimately should have scored when the overlap was created for Tom James out wide, but the wing failed to touch down and the chance went begging.

Mooar’s side did level matters, however, via the boot of Jones, with referee George Clancy playing advantage for an infringement, and that confidence booster was what they needed.

Although the Warriors briefly threatened through Alex Allan’s surge, the away side were slightly having the better of proceedings and their fly-half rewarded their endeavour with a second three-pointer.

To Glasgow’s credit, they brought themselves level on the stroke of half-time via Thomson’s accuracy off the tee before the pivot added another at the start of the second period.

It was a tight game and it needed a spark to bring it to life. That duly came from Asquith, who set up the Scarlets’ first try by opening up the opposition defence and finding Hardy to finish.

After that good work, the 26-year-old was then the beneficiary of his team-mates’ excellence as Johnny McNicholl intercepted and fed Steff Hughes. The back chipped and regathered, and his centre partner was on hand to take them 11 points ahead.

The Scarlets were rampant and Evans crossed the whitewash to seemingly secure the win. That should have been enough but the Warriors put together a tremendous final 20 minutes.

Thomson set the ball rolling by touching down before McDowall followed him going into the latter stages. They then pressured the opposition line in search of the winning score, resulting in Josh Macleod being yellow carded, but Mooar’s men deservedly held on.

In the other game on Friday, defending champions Leinster enjoyed an excellent night in Dublin, securing a dominant 53-5 triumph over a forlorn Ospreys side.

The Welsh team were outplayed in their PRO14 opener against Ulster and they struggled versus Leo Cullen’s men, who took a 22-0 advantage into the interval.

Fergus McFadden, Ronan Kelleher and Joe Tomane all touched down in the first half before they extended their buffer after the break. Once again, Kelleher crossed the whitewash to seal the bonus-point and it got even worse for the visitors.

Allen Clarke’s men were simply atrocious and conceded four more times through Kelleher, who completed his hat-trick, Max Deegan, Harry Byrne and Michael Milne.

Glasgow Warriors