Glasgow remain top of URC thanks to Connacht upset as free-flowing Lions humble sub-par Warriors

Franco Smith’s men were second best throughout the 80 in almost all areas of the pitch as the hosts put them to the sword with their Fiji sevens-esque offloading and breakdown dominance. Glasgow’s only real silver lining came earlier in the afternoon in Cape Town where Connacht recorded a famous upset win.

Stormers looked set to move top of the standings as they lead that match 24-19 up to the 70th minute, but the Irish side went ahead and then sealed the win with a late intercept try. That score also denied the hosts a losing bonus point, which means Glasgow retain a four-point lead ahead of their own trip to the DHL Stadium next weekend.

URC leaders suffer crushing defeat at Ellis Park as inspired Lions boost play-off credentials

The tempo was set at Ellis Park from kick off as Lions immediately showed the effectiveness of their high octane attack with one quality offload after another pushing them up the park. Henco van Wyk and Erich Cronje both crossed inside the opening ten minutes for an early 12-0 lead.

Glasgow responded with their first signs of life as Josh McKay did well to beat two defenders behind the line, but try scorer Cronje showed some superb jackling to win his side a penalty. Lions pushed back up and another penalty gave them a tap and go opportunity deep into Warriors territory for Van Wyk to cross for his second.

The penalties began to build and Glasgow conceded another straight from kick off as Kyle Rowe was pinged for not moving away. Lions were dominating the breakdown as Warriors clearly missed absent back row duo Rory Darge and Matt Fagerson.

The visitors finally came to life after half an hour and did it in emphatic style as Kyle Rowe powered through the defensive line at pace and Dan Lancaster crossed over on the next phase. However, they followed that up by shipping more penalties and they gave Lions a dangerous free play in their 22 which saw loose-head prop SJ Kotze rumble over.

Glasgow Warriors second best throughout as world class offloading tears their defense apart

Something drastic needed to change for Glasgow, who trailed 26-7 at the break, but the early stages of the second half followed suit with more lazy penalties making life easier for the Lions. Ruan Venter, who had been a dominant force with ball in hand already, was next to score as the back rower powered over from the first phase off a line-out.

Now trailing 33-7, the best outcome for Warriors was to gamble and try and at least find a way to a losing bonus point. They took a step towards that with a good line-out move that looked set for a rolling maul before a quick pass out the back allowed Stafford McDowall to slice through from close range.

More free flowing passing ended with scrum half Morne van den Berg and Siba Mahashe adding tries. The eighth and final score from the Lions came with Warriors pushing hard only for the ball to come lose in the tackle before van den Berg gave the showboat behind the back pass to full-back Quan Horn who danced through the entire Warriors defense with ease.

Based on this result, there’s a decent chance these two sides could meet in the play-offs. Warriors will need to drastically up their game if that does transpire.

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