Glasgow's comeback floors gutsy Dragons

02/16/2025 11:12 AM

MATCH REPORT: The Glasgow Warriors have extended the gap between themselves and the Bulls on the United Rugby Championship table following their 45-20 win over the Dragons at Rodney Parade.

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The hosts raced to a 10-point lead but the class of the defending URC champions were simply too much for the struggling Welsh outfit who outscored the Dragons by seven tries to two.

The Dragons defended bravely throughout the match but soft moments in the second quarter of the match and the first 10 minutes after half-time proved costly for the home side.

The Dragons earned the first penalty of the match due to a deliberate knock-on by flyhalf Duncan Weir.

Lloyd Evans slotted the first points of the match in the second minute to get the hosts ahead by three points to zero.

Back-to-back penalties gifted the Dragons a 22-metre entry in Glasgow's half.

The Dragons formed a powerful rolling maul which earned them another penalty which scrumhalf Dane Blacker took quickly to set hooker James Benjamin up for the try which Evans converted in the 10th minute.

Flyhalf Duncan Weir slotted a 50/22 kick to give the visitors an attacking line-out which they launched an attack from.

A loose ball kicked through by Sebastian Cancelliere which he regathered set replacement hooker Johnny Matthews up for Glasgow's opening score which Duncan Weir converted in the 23rd minute.

The Dragons hit back immediately after the restart as Glasgow failed to roll away.

Lloyd Evans slotted the penalty kick to extend his side's lead to six points in the 25th minute.

Dragons replacement hooker Alex Samuel got penalised for tackling a player beyond the horizontal which gave Glasgow an attacking five-metre line-out.

Glasgow kept things tight with pick and drives as Jack Mann barged his way over the line on the 28-minute mark which Duncan Weir failed to convert as the Dragons held onto a solitary point lead with 10 minutes to go before half-time.

The Warriors went back-to-back thanks to a line break by tighthead prop Fin Richardson who found George Horne on his outside.

Horne got his pass away to Sebastian Cancelliere and got the ball back from him to go over for Glasgow's third try as Weir failed to convert again in the 30th minute.

Jack Mann made a break after a penalty advantage for a high tackle as he found Cancelliere on his outside and a deliberate knock-on by Dane Blacker saw Duncan Weir kick the ball ahead and dot it down for the bonus point try which he converted himself in the 37th minute.

Scrumhalf Dane Blacker also received a yellow card for the deliberate knock-on in the process.

The Dragons got the ball back from the restart and worked their way up-field to hit back on the stroke of half-time through Shane Lewis-Huges to get themselves within touching distance at the break which Lloyd Evans converted.

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Glasgow started the second half on fire with Johnny Matthews making a line break to get the visitors into the Dragons' red zone.

The forwards bashed away at the line and Nathan McBeth barged over for Glasgow's fifth try of the afternoon which Weir converted in the 42nd minute.

The Warriors upped the tempo as the Dragons had no answers when the visitors launched an attack off a line-out and George Horne went over for a brace in the 47th minute as Duncan Weir converted for a quick 14-point swing.

The match remained scoreless for the next 29 minutes before Sebastian Cancelliere went over in the corner to put the seal on the result in the 71st minute as Duncan Weir slotted the conversion.

Both sides had scoring opportunities for the remainder of the match but couldn't get over the line as Glasgow Warriors walked away with the full house of points from Rodney Parade.

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The scorers

For the Dragons:
Tries: Benjamin, Lewis-Hughes
Cons: Evans 2
Pens: Evans 2

For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Matthews, Mann, Horne 2, Weir, McBeth, Cancelliere
Cons: Weir 5

Yellow card: Dane Blacker (Dragons - Cynical: deliberate knock-on after a line break in the red-zone 37')

Teams

Dragons: 15 Huw Anderson, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Harry Wilson, 12 Aneurin Owen (captain), 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7 George Young, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 George Nott, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 James Benjamin, 1 Josh Reynolds
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Paula Latu, 19 Barny Langton-Cryer, 20 Evan Minto, 21 Che Hope, 22 Will Reed, 23 Scott Williams

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Duncan Munn, 11 Facundo Cordero, 10 Duncan Weir (captain), 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Mann, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Jare Oguntibeju, 3 Fin Richardson, 2 Grant Stewart, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Ally Miller, 20 Angus Fraser, 21 Macenzzie Duncan, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Kerr Johnston

Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales) & Matthew Leon (Wales)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)

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