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September 09, 2017

Glasgow Warriors 31 - 10 Ospreys

GUINNESS PRO14 match played at Scotstoun on Saturday September 9th 2017 | No comments

Alex Dunbar grabbed two tries and took the man-of-the-match award
Warriors opened their Scotstoun account for the new PRO14 campaign with a bonus-point win over Ospreys this afternoon.

A contest characterised by long passages of possession in each 22 was decided by long-range tries that stemmed from loose possession.

Glasgow benefited first, with Alex Dunbar the scorer and Finn Russell converting and soon adding a penalty.

By the pause, Ospreys were level at 10-10 thanks to a well-constructed try for Dan Evans, converted by Sam Davies who also booted a penalty.

Glasgow dominated the second half, scoring tries through Leonardo Sarto, Adam Ashe and Dunbar to gather a bonus point, with all converted by Russell. After 72 minutes there was a long stoppage before Ospreys flanker Olly Cracknell was taken off on a stretcher, having been injured in a tackle on Glasgow's Nick Grigg.

The hosts enjoyed a strong start to the match but made their breakthrough just as Ospreys were securing their first decent spell of possession. It came after 16 minutes as Dunbar made an interception on halfway and bounded on withstrength and pace to score.

Ospreys lost possession soon after the restart allowing Russell to dribble into their 22 from where he kicked a penalty.

However, Ospreys went on to have the better of the second quarter to tie the score by the pause. Pressure in the home 22 was finished by full-back Evans cutting clean through. Davies, playing his 100th game for the Welsh club,
converted.

More Ospreys pressure saw Glasgow penalised five metres out and Davies equalised the scores, choosing the kick.

Glasgow were on top from the start of the second half. Several kickable penalties were turned down and after 53 minutes the tactic of taking a tap paid off, replacement winger Sarto scoring with Russell converting.

Seven minutes later Glasgow's Ashe intercepted on the Ospreys 10 metres line and finding no one at home touched down under the posts with Russell converting.

Between the scores good work by Ospreys' Kieron Fonotia let Bradley Davies reach the line but Glasgow held him up.

With three minutes left Dunbar scored the bonus-point try, with Russell adding the extras.

After the match, Glasgow head coach Dave Rennie said: "I thought we were pretty flat for the first 40 minutes and they did a really good job at slowing our ball down.

"We lost a lot of races in the contact area, ran too high and had a lack of footwork, but there's a lot of character in this group and while we didn't have the same defensive intensity and line speed we showed last week, we still put in a lot of tackles. We can play a lot better though, and the score probably flattered us a bit."

Referee Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Attendance 7,531
Man of the Match Alex Dunbar
Team
1
Jamie Bhatti
2
George Turner
3
Zander Fagerson
4
Tim Swinson
5
Scott Cummings
6
Ryan Wilson
7
Callum Gibbins
8
Adam Ashe
9
Ali Price
10
Finn Russell
11
Rory Hughes
12
Peter Horne
13
Alex Dunbar
14
Lee Jones
15
Ruaridh Jackson
Sub
Pat MacArthur
Sub
Oli Kebble
Sub
D'arcy Rae
Sub
Brian Alainu'uese
Sub
Matt Fagerson
Sub
Henry Pyrgos
Sub
Nick Grigg
Sub
Leonardo Sarto
Match Substitutions
Off On
Rory Hughes Leonardo Sarto
Off On
Jamie Bhatti Oli Kebble
Off On
George Turner Pat MacArthur
Off On
Adam Ashe Matt Fagerson
Off On
Ali Price Henry Pyrgos
Off On
Zander Fagerson D'arcy Rae
Off On
Scott Cummings Brian Alainu'uese
Off On
Peter Horne Nick Grigg
Scorers
Alex Dunbar Try 
Finn Russell Conversion
Finn Russell Penalty
Leonardo Sarto Try 
Finn Russell Conversion
Adam Ashe Try 
Finn Russell Conversion
Alex Dunbar Try 
Finn Russell Conversion