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August 23, 2014

Glasgow Warriors 23 - 24 Harlequins

Friendly match played at Scotstoun on Saturday August 23rd 2014 | No comments

DTH van der Merwe ran in an interception try
Glasgow lost out 23-24 to Harlequins in today's pre-season friendly at Scotstoun.

Two tries from Nikola Matawalu, a length of the field effort from DTH van der Merwe, and two penalties and a conversion from Duncan Weir looked like being enough to give the Warriors the win, but two late scores from Quins edged out the Scotstoun men.

The Warriors made a quick start and were rewarded with a Duncan Weir penalty before Harlequins enjoyed a period of sustained pressure culminating in skipper Joe Marler rumbling over for the try with Nick Evans adding the extras.

Duncan Weir's second penalty made it 6-7 as both sides enjoyed the dry and firm conditions.

Glasgow started to put some moved together and a great run from Leone Nakarawa should have brought a try. The big Fijian lock was sent to the sidelines for ten minutes after a scuffle and Danny Care followed him minutes later for another off-the-ball incident.

The second period was only minutes old when Kyle Sinckler when over from a line-out and Evans converted for the visitors.

Glasgow hit back with Nikola Matawalu chipping over the Quins defence before finishing off the move for a great try with Weir adding the extras.

DTH van der Merwe put Glasgow in front with a powerful run on the left before offloading to Mark Bennett who then found Nikola Matawalu who raced towards the line and touched down.

DTH got on the scoresheet himself when he picked off a stray pass from Harlequins before going the length of the park for the try to put the Warriors 23-14 ahead.

With 73 minutes on the clock, Glasgow conceded a try as Ollie Lindsay Hague went over and three minutes later, Marland Yarde looked to have been bundled into touch but managed to reach out a hand to score in the corner.

After the match, Gregor Townsend said: “The first thing you look at in a pre-season game is how the guys are conditioned and I think we looked really good in the first 15 minutes when there were no set-pieces, and as the game wore on the guys continued to look good physically and the players coming off the bench also did well.

“Every game you play you want to win so that is disappointing. We’ve got to make sure we stay switched on right to the end, but I’m generally pleased with where we are.

“Last year we scored five down at Exeter in our pre-season [but they then struggled to grind out wins when the season proper got under way] so it will depend on a lot of things like the conditions and the opposition we’re facing. Leinster is our first league game and they are an excellent defensive team, so that will be a big challenge."

“The pleasing thing is that the skill level was high, there was some really good passing under pressure to put the wingers free, and good support lines being run.”

Next week, Glasgow will travel to England to take on London Scottish before Leinster come calling in the GUINNESS PRO12 opener on Saturday 6 September.

Referee Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Attendance 3,849
Team
1
Alex Allan
2
Fraser Brown
3
Euan Murray
4
Jonny Gray
5
Leone Nakarawa
6
James Eddie
7
Tyrone Holmes
8
Josh Strauss
9
Murray McConnell
10
Duncan Weir
11
Rory Hughes
12
James Downey
13
Mark Bennett
14
Lee Jones
15
Peter Murchie
Sub
Jerry Yanuyanutawa
Sub
Chris Fusaro
Sub
Rossouw de Klerk
Sub
Pat MacArthur
Sub
Robert Harley
Sub
Nikola Matawalu
Sub
Peter Horne
Sub
DTH van der Merwe
Sub
Adam Ashe
Sub
Connor Braid
Sub
Fergus Scott
Scorers
Duncan Weir Penalty
Duncan Weir Penalty
Nikola Matawalu Try 
Duncan Weir Conversion
Nikola Matawalu Try 
DTH van der Merwe Try