Glasgow Warriors rediscover their cool to land bonus-point win

Four first-half tries looked to have Franco Smith’s side well placed to run out comfortable winners but Munster took heart from Glasgow having two further scores chalked off to mount an unlikely comeback.

Three tries in relative quick succession suddenly made it a lot tighter than it ought to have been, only for Glasgow to regain their composure and make it home with a bit to spare.

International rugby tends to take priority come this time of year meaning there were more Scotland internationals sitting watching in the Scotstoun stand than participating on the pitch.

Opportunity knocked, then, for those returning from injury – like Josh McKay and Sione Vailanu – and the latest crop of youngsters fresh off the academy conveyor belt, including Kerr Yule, Dylan Cockburn and Matthew Urwin who were all involved on a freezing night in Glasgow.

It was frenetic and scrappy from the start, a blustery wind also contributing substantially to the mayhem. Glasgow had to soak up some early sustained Munster pressure and heaved a sigh of relief when Brian Gleeson was denied a try due to a double movement.

The home side then took full advantage by landing two tries in as many minutes. The first owed much to the athleticism of Ollie Smith who twisted his body to get the ball down under pressure from opposite wing Diarmuid Kilgallen.

Dan Lancaster made that conversion and was then gifted a score of his own. Munster’s line-out routine was one clearly studied by Glasgow as Lancaster pinched Tony Butler’s pass to score.

Glasgow show some generosity

Glasgow tend to steamroller rivals once they get this sort of lead at home but their generosity then gave Munster a foothold back into the contest. Stafford McDowall’s long pass looked ambitious and Ethan Coughlan was on the same wavelength as he picked it off to score.

The conditions favoured Glasgow in the first half and they made it count by scoring twice more to secure the bonus point. Jare Oguntibeju claimed the first after Warriors had battered away with phase after phase of forward grunt before the lock went over the top to score.

Munster were already up against it and their cause wasn’t helped when Thaakir Abrahams was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on. Warriors quickly took advantage of the extra man, McKay marking his return by taking Lancaster’s pass and sprinting over.

Playing into the wind didn’t seem to inhibit Glasgow after the turn-around as they pursued a fifth try. Angus Fraser was denied when he was held up before Seb Stephen’s fine individual score was chalked off for an earlier knock-on.

Glasgow still looked to be well in control but three Munster tries threatened to bring about an upset. The first went to Dan Kelly who sprinted from deep before rounding Smith to dot down before Gleeson pinched a wayward Glasgow line-out to ease over for another score.

Munster by now had their tails up and they secured a bonus point when Abrahams fed Kilgallen to cross in the corner. Warriors, though, did well to steady the ship and a rare penalty off the tee from Lancaster ensured the victory.