Glasgow Warriors | Glasgow Warriors v Racing 92
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December 16, 2016

Glasgow Warriors 23 - 7 Racing 92

Champions Cup match played at Scotstoun on Friday December 16th 2016 | No comments

Finn Russell took the man-of-the-match award for the second week running
Warriors overpowered French champions Racing 92 in tonight's Champions Cup match at Scotstoun.

Tries from Josh Strauss - who was making his 100th appearance - Fraser Brown and Ali Price sent Glasgow top of Pool 1 with their third win in four matches, although Munster can return to the summit on Saturday if they maintain their perfect record against Leicester.

The French champions could not live with the tempo and variety of Glasgow's attacking play and were 23 points behind after 46 minutes before they began to have any kind of forward momentum.

Even then Warriors withstood the serious physical challenge, and some desperate defending maintained their clean sheet until the 79th minute.

Racing saw a good early opening foiled by a forward pass but it proved the last time they had the ball in the Glasgow 22 for almost 40 minutes.

Warriors quickly got on top and Finn Russell's delicate chip ahead sparked an attack that the visitors could not stop. Tommy Seymour took the ball on and fed Stuart Hogg whose inside pass allowed Strauss to cross in the fifth minute.

Russell soon burst through several players but did not play the pass when he had his chance. However, Glasgow did not have to wait long for their second try and it was Russell who was the creator again, releasing Brown to force himself over inside 13 minutes.

Russell this time added the conversion and Glasgow continued their onslaught.

Racing held out amid some sustained pressure just in front of the try line, with Hogg stopped a metre out, but Glasgow had a penalty waiting for them and Russell extended the lead to 15 points.

Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend had described the revamped French pack as "probably the biggest ever assembled" but the hosts were dominating them and they moved further ahead when Russell notched an easy penalty after the visiting scrum collapsed.

Racing were denied a stoppage-time try when Seymour held up Brice Dulin right in the corner after Dan Carter's kick threatened to give the visitors a scarcely-deserved score.

Warriors continued their domination after the interval and Price crossed after a clever dummy gave the scrum-half the chance to squeeze between two opponents.

Racing finally found their attacking game but Warriors survived three times when the visitors looked set to touch down during a sustained spell of pressure.

Townsend's side gradually pushed the game up the park but they continued to defend and finally conceded with 60 seconds left when Xavier Chauveau went over near the corner.

Referee George Clancy (Ireland)
Attendance
Man of the Match Finn Russell
Team
1
Gordon Reid
2
Fraser Brown
3
Zander Fagerson
4
Tim Swinson
5
Jonny Gray
6
Robert Harley
7
Ryan Wilson
8
Josh Strauss
9
Ali Price
10
Finn Russell
11
Lee Jones
12
Sam Johnson
13
Alex Dunbar
14
Tommy Seymour
15
Stuart Hogg
Sub
Corey Flynn
Sub
Alex Allan
Sub
Sila Puafisi
Sub
Brian Alainu'uese
Sub
Chris Fusaro
Sub
Henry Pyrgos
Sub
Mark Bennett
Sub
Sean Lamont
Match Substitutions
Off On
Zander Fagerson Sila Puafisi
Off On
Josh Strauss Chris Fusaro
Off On
Sam Johnson Mark Bennett
Off On
Gordon Reid Alex Allan
Off On
Ali Price Henry Pyrgos
Off On
Fraser Brown Corey Flynn
Scorers
Josh Strauss Try 
Fraser Brown Try 
Finn Russell Conversion
Finn Russell Penalty
Finn Russell Penalty
Ali Price Try