Adam Hastings explains 'silly' Glasgow Warriors incident that sparked Leinster melee

The Irish outfit have dominated recent meetings between the sides - winning six of the last seven - with some heavy defeats inflicted on Glasgow including a 52-0 thumping in the Champions Cup quarter-finals in Dublin last year.

But Leinster were firmly second best on their first visit to Scotstoun since 2023 and emotions got out of hand in the aftermath of George Horne's second try in the dying embers of the 38-17 victory.

A large altercation involving most players from both sides broke out after Hastings made a remark to Sam Prendergast while cheekily rubbing the hair of the Leinster number 10.

The melee that followed resulted in Hastings and Leinster's Rabah Slimani being shown yellow cards but the Glasgow fly-half, who appeared off the bench in the second half, did not seem to mind as he left the pitch to a standing ovation, wearing a huge grin and waving to fans.

Asked afterwards if he feared disciplinary repercussions from Warriors head coach Franco Smith, Hastings said: "I don't know. Franco's a pretty angry guy so we'll wait and see. No, I'm joking."

Asked to explain what happened, he added: "It's a bit of back and forth. It's always been like that. You know what they are like in these games, then the fight went off. It went on for a bit too long. They pulled Gus [Angus Fraser] back so I thought I'd got away with it.

"But, look, I'll take my discipline. A bit silly.

"It means so much to us, these games. We've been on the wrong end of a few of these results and I think that's maybe why it spilled over at the end. You can see how much it means to both teams.

“I thought espcially in the first half the boys played unbelievable. Obviously Leinster were going to throw it about when they were down and I thought we dealt with that pretty well. We know they are a very dangerous team as well so if we meet them later on in the year it will be tough."

The victory was all the more impressive as Glasgow fielded a youthful side while resting a number of Scotland internationals. The game will be best remembered for a stunning individual try from Kyle Rowe - one of six Glasgow scored with Horne (2), Maccenzie Duncan, Gregor Hiddleston and Ollie Smith also on the scoresheet.

Rowe, unfortunate not to see more game time for Scotland during the Six Nations, picked up the ball deep in his own half and sped off down the right wing before chasing down his own kick to score one of the tries of his career. It was one of three tries Glasgow scored while Leinster were down to 13 men following quick-fire yellow cards for Brian Deeny and Rónan Kelleher.

The victory was also memorable for 20-year-old Jonny Ventisei who made his senior professional debut for Glasgow at outside centre up against the All Blacks' Rieko Ioane and Ireland's Robbie Henshaw.

"I'm absolutely buzzing," he said afterwards. "To make my debut I was over the moon. Then to get a result like that is unbelievable. I can't even put it into words.”