Glasgow Warriors pull away from struggling Dragons to go second in URC

Planet Rugby
Stafford McDowall for Glasgow Warriors.

Stafford McDowall for Glasgow Warriors.

Glasgow Warriors picked up a bonus-point 40-7 victory over the Dragons in a result that propels them up to second in the United Rugby Championship (URC) standings.

Tries from Josh McKay (2), Stafford McDowall (2), Ben Afshar and Facundo Cordero saw Glasgow to the maximum, with Ross Thompson and Duncan Weir kicking extras.

Will Reed went over for the Dragons‘ consolation score in the second half at Scotstoun as the Welsh region remain in 15th position, one spot above basement side the Sharks.

Click here for scorers

There was little doubt about the outcome from the opening moments as the Warriors climb the United Rugby Championship table.

Full-back McKay took a high ball on the 40-metre line, wriggled through some bodies and side-stepped two Dragons players to cross. Thompson added the first of his four conversions.

Franco Smith’s side soon got their second try after hooker Johnny Matthews won the ball from the Dragons’ line-out. The hosts worked the ball to McDowall, who charged through.

The skipper was soon contributing at the other end as he held the ball up when the Welsh side’s pack crossed.

Much of the first half was scrappy, but Glasgow put the game beyond doubt just before the interval when McDowall broke the lines and passed outside to McKay to cross.

The home side repelled some early second-half pressure before securing the bonus point inside four minutes of the restart. Henco Venter, Jamie Dobie and then Tom Jordan all made ground and Scotland U20 international Afshar kept up with play to accept the pass and go over.

Matthew Screech touched down at the other end, but Dan Lydiate was penalised for obstruction and the try was disallowed on video evidence.

Dragons eventually got some reward for their sporadic spells of pressure when replacement Reed wriggled over after taking a quick pass from Angus O’Brien, who added the conversion.

But the score only served to spark a strong finish from the home side.

A slick move ended with Duncan Weir playing a long pass out to the right wing for former Exeter player Cordero to go over.

Scotland centre McDowall capped an impressive display by crossing for the second time with five minutes left before Weir rounded off the scoring with his boot.

The teams

Glasgow: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Facundo Cordero, 13 Stafford McDowall (c), 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Afshar, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Thomas Gordon, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Angus Fraser, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Ruaraidh Hart, 20 Sintu Manjezi, 21 Gregor Hiddleston, 22 Sean Kennedy, 23 Duncan Weir

Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Oli Andrew, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Dan Lydiate, 7 George Young, 6 Sean Lonsdale, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 James Benjamin, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 Barny Langton-Cryer, 20 Sam Scarfe, 21 Che Hope, 22 Will Reed, 23 Joe Westwood

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Jonny Perriam (Scotland), Michael Todd (Scotland)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

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