Huwipulotu

Glasgow 36 – 19 Connacht

Undefeated!

What a performance! Glasgow really kicked into gear properly in this game. Even with some big players still missing, this proves Glasgow will continue to compete at the top level this season. Connacht brought a good team to Scotstoun and were outplayed. This was a great result for the Warriors and shows how Glasgow will move forward through the season.

Main Talking Points

Several things were very impressive: discipline throughout the majority of the match was good, the scrum was on top, and the maul continued to be a weapon. Glasgow did unfortunately get another yellow in the last 5 minutes, something I was hoping we would avoid this week. But 11 penalties conceded, compared with 18 by Connacht, is an improvement. Next week, Glasgow once again needs to look to keep 15 on the pitch for the full 80 minutes.

The scrum was on top from the get-go this week. It would be easy to say that it was all on McBeth, who started this week after being on the bench in the first two games and impressing coming off of it. But the scrum looked solid on both sides, with Fin Richardson also playing well. It was less dominant but still strong in the second half, even when up against Finlay Bealham. Once Zander returns, Glasgow will hopefully be able to use the scrum as a reliable platform and weapon against all sides in the league.

The new maul rules have only strengthened Glasgow’s maul; Connacht could not cope. Gregor Hiddleston should have got a hat-trick; Darge ended up scoring one of the maul tries, and Glasgow were held up for another. Having a strong maul is so good in modern rugby; the pressure you can apply on teams is immense. The risk for a team conceding a penalty in their half is that Glasgow will kick to the corner almost every time and go to the maul. Targeting the turnover in the lineout is risky; if you miss, then you aren’t set to defend the maul. The more players you commit to stopping the drive, the more space there is for Glasgow’s lethal backline to attack. Concede more penalties trying to stop it, and you’re looking at yellow cards and penalty tries. Glasgow have even cleaner ball to work with if the maul is stopped legally, as the new rules stop players from swimming up the side and getting in the way of playing it away quickly and accurately. Gregor Hiddleston already has 15 tries in 27 starts, whilst these aren’t quite Johnny Matthews‘ numbers (53 tries, 56 starts), it’s clear that Hiddleston is now bound to benefit from Glasgow’s maul greatly.

Reidy impressed

After a late shuffle with Kyle Rowe dropping out of the 23, Dobie moved to the wing, Horne went into 9, and Reidy was back on the bench again. This week, however, he actually got on the pitch. And he impressed. His first notable touch was a big momentum-stopping hit on Mack Hansen, picking up the British and Irish Lion and dumping him backwards. He also had a short time on the ball in attack in his 11-minute cameo and showcased some excellent passing, as expected for a 9. I’ve called him an Australian before on the blog, but I now know he was born in Aberdeen and raised in Australia, so Scotland qualified already! He’s listed at 6 foot 2 on the Glasgow website, and so he brings a real physical point of difference our other 9s don’t have. It would seem at the moment he is above Afshar and Oliver in the pecking order, but we still need to see more of him to be fully convinced; he didn’t even get a chance to box-kick in the game.

Managing momentum

I spoke in the preview about Glasgow needing to get ahead at half-time, and the team selection this week demonstrated that ambition, with the stronger starting pack. And they lived up to it, leading 19-7 at the interval. However, it’s now become a trend that Glasgow concede the first try, and concede it early. Ulster scored the first try in the 4th minute, Connacht in the 16th and Munster in the 14th. This slow start will punish us against more clinical teams. If we were playing a Leinster or Bulls side, that could easily be 2 or 3 tries. After conceding the first try this week, Glasgow went on to score four unanswered tries. This shows our dominance in the middle portion of the game; we need to start games the same way. Getting the first score would psychologically help the team. And if we build on that momentum, we could see even bigger leads at halftime.

Top Performers

1. Jamie Dobie – The creativity and skill to set up the Josh McKay try gets him first on my list. He also made 2 line breaks and two turnovers, the most of any player in both stats. Whilst we didn’t get to see him back at scrum half this week, we got more evidence that he is just as class on the wing.
2. Rory Darge – if Darge starts, he has about a 90% chance of making this list. He’s just so unbelievably good. 30 tackles this week puts him 14 ahead of the next best player (Macenzzie Duncan). He won a turnover and carried well too.
3. Matt Fagerson – Matt unfortunately left the pitch injured just after half-time. However, in his time on the pitch, he registered 3 dominant tackles, 15 tackles in total and 7 carries. His workhorse numbers playing at blindside were important, as was his physicality, helping to stop Connacht’s momentum at times.

Looking ahead

It’s the first week of the Champions Cup this season. Glasgow have got Sale away. It’s hard to determine how Sale are going so far this season. They lost at home to Bristol in the opening round before getting a great win away at Saracens and then beating Quins, who are struggling, in a close game in Salford. Glasgow should be confident knowing that they are in better form and also won this game last season. Sale often raise their game for Europe, so it won’t be easy, but Glasgow should be aiming to come away with at least 4 points.