Max Williamson crossed for Glasgow's opening try

In a contest played in persistent wind and rain, Franco Smith's side came through an attritional encounter to secure a home quarter-final against Toulon next weekend.

Tries from Max Williamson and Jack Dempsey in the first half kept Glasgow in touch, before second-half scores from Patrick Schickerling and Stafford McDowall helped swing the momentum in their favour.

The Bulls held a 14-12 lead at the break, having made the most of a strong breeze. Johan Grobbelaar crossed for a try, while Handre Pollard added three penalties as the visitors controlled territory for long periods of the opening half.

Glasgow, despite the conditions, showed attacking intent whenever opportunities arose. Williamson's try followed good interplay involving Matt Fagerson and George Horne, while Dempsey finished from close range after the hosts opted to kick to the corner rather than take points.

With the conditions in their favour after the interval, Glasgow began to apply more pressure. A key moment came when they chose to tap a penalty close to the line rather than kick at goal, with Schickerling forcing his way over.

McDowall's try in the closing stages extended the lead, though the Bulls responded through Marco van Staden to set up a tense finish.

The final say went to Adam Hastings, who converted a late penalty to secure a four-point win for the hosts.

In challenging weather and against a physical Bulls side, Glasgow did enough to progress and will now prepare to face Toulon at Scotstoun in the last eight.

Speaking to Premier Sports, Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith said he expected a close match: "It is play-off rugby, it is always going to be tight.

"Look at the Stormers earlier, it will be 80 minutes of it which is why I held the bench back a bit. It's good to introduce the boys to a bit of play-off mentality.

"They are a very determined side. They are starting to click, they came with a good plan for the weather. I have a lot of respect for Johan and what they are doing there."

Stafford McDowall took the Player-of-the-Match after getting the nod ahead of Huw Jones but Smith sang the praises of both players and their contribution to the squad.

"Stafford [McDowall] and Huw [Jones] are such quality players. They allow each other to be the best of themselves. Stafford deserved an opportunity.

"I think it's the public that must give Stafford a vote of confidence, not me," added Smith. "I've picked him often and he's hardly played a bad game for us. I think the perception out there is that he's not the first-choice player but he's a first-choice player for us. Maybe some games and some situations are different, but again, he proved tonight the player that he is."

The only potential downside on a satisfying evening was the ankle injury sustained by George Horne that could see him sidelined for next weekend's rematch with Toulon - the side that defeated Glasgow in the 2023 Challenge Cup final.

"We'll have to see what the diagnosis is first," added Smith. "He's walking on it with a boot so hopefully it's not that serious."

Glasgow skipper Kyle Steyn told Premier Sports there was still a lot for Warriors to work on ahead of next weekend's quarter-final.

"Yeah, we made that pretty tough for ourselves. The conditions are never easy, but they're conditions we're used to. So, yeah, I suppose it's a a really good thing that we were able to tough it up, but plenty to work on for next week.

"Credit to the Bulls. You know, they didn't go away. they kept fighting and any little bit we gave them that they took a mile. So, tough battle out there. You know, it's really exciting to be into knockout rugby at Scotstoun."

On the prospect of facing Toulon again, Steyn added: "Yeah, exactly. So lovely. Always exciting playing a team you don't get to play often and a team that's got history like they do in this competition. So, yeah, it'll be a big weekend. Looking forward to it."