Warriors tough it out as Lions left licking wounds

IF there is more than one way to skin a cat, then Glasgow Warriors proved there is also more than one way to tame a pride of Lions.

Nine tries in their opening two games of the new season brought a sense of excitement and adventure to the Warriors as they embark on the United Rugby Championship.

This victory, however, was rather more attritional. There was only one try, scored after only two minutes by prop Jamie Bhatti.

Certainly, this was far removed from last week’s free-flowing affair against the Sharks, which had seen the Warriors run in five tries.

Yet, in a way, it was equally impressive. Glasgow should have been more than just 10-6 ahead at half-time, before the game became an arm wrestle.

Rory Darge was once again outstanding in the back row, helping his team to a second win in three games at the start of the new campaign.

If this was the antithesis of those high-scoring encounters against Ulster and the Sharks over the past fortnight, then so be it.

Glasgow still found a way of getting the job done — and that is something to be admired because it was not always the way of things for Danny Wilson’s side last season.

They have the look of a very wellbalanced team right now. They can throw the ball around when they want to, but they can also grind out results when required.

The second half yesterday became a slog amid some dreadful conditions, but Wilson was delighted to see his men win ugly.

The head coach said: ‘Fraser Brown made a good point in the changing room afterwards. With games like that, you can get drawn away from the amount of chances we created and get a bit frustrated.

‘As Fraser said, our character defensively in our own 22 was much better than last week. We worked harder and kept the opposition out.

‘We played so well in the first half and created so much, but it was a bit forced with the offloads. We were trying to force the issue when we should have been more patient.

‘In the second half, the weather came in and there were more scrums. We didn’t want that because we knew the scrum was a really powerful weapon for them.

‘The died a death a little bit in the second half, a little bit like last week. But we looked really dangerous in the first half.

‘The character element of it was pleasing. We had to dig in. We could have folded a little bit at the end, but we didn’t.

‘We dug in and got the win — and that’s 11 points from the first three games. We’ve gone to Ulster and played two big South African teams who we didn’t know much about. So it’s a good start.’

Last weekend’s dominant victory over the Sharks had imbued Glasgow with a renewed sense of confidence following the troubles of last season.

And, for the second time in successive weeks, they made a flying start and scored the opening try inside two minutes.

It all stemmed from a clever short line-out deep inside the Lions’ 22. After going through the phases, it was Bhatti who eventually reached out and dotted down just under the posts.

It was a fine way for the 28-year-old Scotland prop to mark his 50th appearance for the Warriors and, remarkably, was his second in as many games after he finally got his first-ever try for the club last week against the Sharks.

Glasgow fly-half Ross Thompson added a simple conversion from in front of the posts and duly slotted a penalty on the quarter-hour mark as the hosts stretched their advantage.

Glasgow were playing some lovely rugby, with Cole Forbes and Rufus McLean heavily involved in much of their attacking play.

The only real criticism was that their execution of the final pass let them down at times, otherwise they could well have scored at least another two or three tries inside the opening half hour or so.

The Lions began to fight back, though, and a couple of penalties from fly-half EW Viljoen cut their deficit to just 10-6 as the teams went down the tunnel at half-time.

Another Viljoen penalty shortly after the break brought the South Africans to within a point, with their scrum beginning to cause Glasgow problems.

The conditions began to worsen as the rain fell and the artificial surface at Scotstoun became increasingly slippy as players battled to stay on their feet.

Viljoen had a crack at a monster penalty from just inside his own half, but it fell short.

For all that Glasgow had bossed it in terms of possession, there was a nagging sense that the Lions could yet pinch a result.

The game had become an arm wrestle, with the South Africans piling the pressure on at key moments — particularly in the set-piece. More than anything, it had become a test of nerve for the Warriors.

It was a test they would ultimately pass, with another penalty from the impressive young Thompson on 71 minutes affording them a little bit more breathing space. It was a lead they would not relinquish.