mens
united-rugby-championship
Defending champions Glasgow turned the screw within the second half to defeat the Stormers 36-18 and soar into the United Rugby Championship semi-finals.
Warriors led 19-13 on the finish of an exhilarating first half within the Scotstoun sunshine and had been briefly pegged again to 19-18 by their South African guests earlier than pulling away to ebook their spot within the final 4.
Franco Smith’s facet, who beat Stormers by a 17-point margin on the similar stage of final yr’s championship, will face the winner of Saturday’s conflict between Leinster and Scarlets in subsequent weekend’s semi-final.
Glasgow had solely two of their 4 British and Irish Lions inclusions obtainable within the form of Sione Tuipulotu and Scott Cummings, with Zander Fagerson and Huw Jones absent by means of damage.
Stormers started strongly and got the scoreboard ticking over following a sustained spell of pressure with a close-range penalty from stand-off Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu within the seventh minute.
However the pendulum swung in favour of the hosts when visiting wing Seabelo Senatla was despatched to the sin bin within the ninth minute for failing to launch in entrance of his personal line.
Glasgow instantly kicked for contact and scored from the ensuing lineout. Euan Ferrie acquired a brief throw from Gregor Hiddleston and deftly flicked it into the palms of Rory Darge, who burst over from shut vary. George Horne transformed.
Warriors elevated their benefit after 1 / 4 of an hour when Tuipulotu nudged a beautiful grubber kick by means of a spot for Kyle Rowe to surge over on the left. Horne added the extras.
One other Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty obtained Stormers again on observe they usually closed to inside a degree within the twenty sixth minute after Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s excessive ball dropped kindly for Senatla, who dashed clear. Feinberg-Mngomezulu transformed.
Warriors swiftly reasserted themselves when Henco Venter, who will depart on the finish of the season, scored off the again of a lineout maul within the twenty eighth minute, though Horne was brief along with his conversion try.
The South Africans hit again once more early within the second half when Senatla bolted away on the left to complete off a wonderful transfer for his second of the night, though Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed the chance to place his facet a degree forward when his conversion drifted huge.
Glasgow reacted impressively to this scare, nevertheless, and obtained themselves some respiratory house within the forty sixth minute as Rowe wriggled brilliantly over the whitewash after team-mate Tom Jordan was halted, with Horne on level along with his conversion.
5 minutes later, Horne completed off a swashbuckling assault that began deep contained in the Glasgow half, with the scrum-half once more including the extras.
With five-try Glasgow holding all of the aces, they opted to take the factors within the 56th minute when Horne’s penalty took them 18 factors clear, guaranteeing a clean closing quarter with no additional scoring.
