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Agony for Glasgow as they fall short against Bulls
Glasgow Warriors fell agonisingly short with a second-half comeback as the Vodacom Bulls emerged 40-34 winners in their United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld.
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Trailing 37-10 entering the final quarter, the league leaders responded by running in three tries in eight minutes to raise hopes of extending their winning run in the URC to seven matches.
But fly-half Chris Smith landed a penalty to put the Bulls out of reach and inflict on their opponents a first loss in the competition since December.
Glasgow’s dazzling play after the hour mark and three points from Duncan Weir with the last kick of the game at least secured two bonus points in a dramatic encounter between title rivals.
Matt Fagerson gave them an early lead but moments after Kyle Steyn had been sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle on Akker van der Merwe, the former Springboks hooker touched down from a well-worked play.
Glasgow were struggling to break out of their half in the face of waves of attacks and there was nothing flashy about the next try they leaked with sheer pressure leading to number eight Cameron Hanekom crossing.
Once George Horne and Smith had exchanged penalties, the Bulls ran in an electric try that started when Glasgow coughed up possession with their own attack.
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The ball was threaded to Kurt-Lee Arendse and the South Africa wing weaved his way downfield but just as Steyn made the tackle, Elrigh Louw arrived to take the scoring pass.
The bonus point was secured six minutes after the interval when sharp handling exposed Glasgow’s passive defending with Canan Moodie crossing.
With winning seemingly now an impossible prospect, the Warriors focused on registering their own bonus point and their cause was aided when a superb long pass by Horne fell into the arms of Steyn for a simple run in.
But in a flash the comeback was on when Sebastian Cancelliere picked off an intercept try and then Weir finishing a stunning move that bamboozled the Bulls through brilliant running lines and pinpoint handling.
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Smith slammed the door shut, however, before Weir was on target with a penalty to register a second losing bonus point.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Tahs have even surprised me with how dysfunctional they have been. Is there an equivalent of a European club they can copy? One that is in a big city and have underperformed for years! There is a lot of hype about the fast paced smaller wings Ryan, Toole and Lancaster is it worth having one small one big wing?
29 Go to commentsGreat piece Nick, Wright really has grown into a serious player this year. He has always had a good work rate, but his impact and physicality has really gone up a notch on both sides of the ball. I really do hope he gets a run in the gold 6 jersey as he has had a hell of a bumpy road to get there. But, Uru his mate is giving him a run for his money at the moment! And thats not to mention harry wilson who has been injured at the worst time, but I think he still tops the charts for most carries in SR. Not sure how Schmidt is going to fit all of rodda, skelton, uru, lsl, wright and frost on the park but its not a bad problem to have. Good to see the reds lineout humming after the mess vs the drua, I wonder how much that has to do with faessler returning, the force put up a few decent challenges in those clips but the throw and timing was pinpoint. I don’t know what was going on but the left hand edge of the force bled tries all night!
29 Go to commentsNot a bad squad above but we don’t need Porecki or Donaldson and definitely no Vunivalu. He’s just collecting his paycheck and trying to avoid getting injured. The Reds look so much better without that liability on the field. I’d probably chose Ryan Lonegran over Kalani Thomas. We badly need a backup for McReight. The risk is Schmidt will try and run McReight in to the ground to eliminate the threat to the All Blacks as Deans did with Pocock. That’s either Tizzano or Rory Scott I’d say. It’s a crime that Thorn was allowed to cruel Hamish Stewart’s career at 10, again to protect the All Blacks. I’m not sold on Liam Wright. A good super rugby player but that’s all. My rule is test players stand out at Super Rugby level otherwise they are unlikely to cut it at test level. Uru is a must. JOC would be a very good mentor in the squad and a steady hand when needed. A brilliant centre when given the chance. Other players on the fringe would be Cale, Canham, Ryan Smith, Bayley Kuenzle, Werchon (he’s going to be great), Anstee (hasn’t pushed on but great potential). Amatesro, Pietsch, and Marky Mark and Perese if they weren’t leaving. Bell of course a must when fit. And Tim Ryan for the experience. And can we please not have any more of these b…. kiwi props at the Reds constantly trying to cheat at the rucks and giving away penalties. Enough !
29 Go to commentsTotal freekin Horlicks. Whoever wrote this doesn’t know their @rse from their elbow!!!!! Top 2 means a home semi and that is a massive increase in prospects to make the final. Not to mention Connacht needing a win to have chance of making the top 8, Edinburgh are playing bennetton and lions may well lose to stormer so every possibility if they win in Dublin.
1 Go to commentsCould that BE a more misleading headline…
1 Go to comments‘eligible’ is fast becoming Aussies favourite word when it comes to the Wallabies.
4 Go to commentsShould be cited (along with quite a few pi players) for taking to the rugby field chewing gum. If he gets knocked out cold he could choke on that. I don’t think it counts as a mouth guard, probably just trying to look ‘staunch’, which seems important to some people.
2 Go to commentsLeinster went to corner wher they should have taken, a kick for 3 points they left 12 point behind in the first half. point make prizes
9 Go to commentsThe Irish development system running as well as we're being lead to believe?
4 Go to commentsNot a fan of your picks. McReight is good at club level but he is too small for international level and has consistently disappointed there. Better to go for larger guys. Kemeney, Valentini, Hooper, Leota, Samu, Swinton, etc. Aalatoa and Nonga are woeful scrummagers and don’t offer much around the field. Wallabies will not win if the scrum falls to pieces. The fact that Faamissli hasn’t been developed is a tragedy. Need a scrum that doesn’t give away penalties. So looks like a Talakai maybe instead. Best scrummagers need to be selected. McDermott runs the ball too much and doesn’t fit into a structured attack like Schmidts. Gets isolated too often. Ok off the bench late but not for 60 mins. Goal kicking has to be one of the top 3 points for a 10 so that does in Gordon and O’Connor. Be better off going for lynagh on that front. Donaldson and Noah seem to be doing best of the established names. QC a better mentor type guy than OConnor as well if he’s playing. Daugunu has been the most consistent 13 and breaks the line a lot so must be in the squad. Joost has also been good. Richie Arnold playing well for Toulouse and is a preeminent lineout jumper so needs to be in. Latu also playing well for La Rochelle and is better scrummager than the Aussie choices so should be in. The big guy at the Tahs Amataroso I think it is needs to be developed as well. Otherwise the team will be too small. Hodge is a better choice at fullback than Wright. Latter makes too many mistakes. Not sure if Hodge available.
29 Go to commentsRyan Smith must be a Smokey with his work rate. On the weekend he won several turnovers, made 14 tackles and 34 ruck entries on his own ball. Uru had 23 carries and caused havoc. They know their jobs the Qld forwards and they all work hard.
29 Go to commentsDC was life-changing at the Rats when he was there. The club loves him still. I am sure the same is true at Gordon. There are two possible reasons for his failure this year and last at the Tahs (ignoring that all 10 contracted front row forwards missed the last month) - he isn’t yet a top level head coach, or the Tahs lack the infrastructure and head office for any coach to succeed. I suspect a bit of both. If true, we need to set our sights very high for a replacement. If it turns out to be Hoiles I will consider handing in my jumper and taking my support elsewhere - Randwick and Uni own the union and I hate them both.
29 Go to comments*World Rugby Standard Rules:* 13. A player on the ground in the field of play, without the ball is out of the game and must: 1. Allow opponents who are not on the ground to play or gain possession of the ball. 2. Not play the ball. 3. Not tackle or attempt to tackle an opponent *Sanction: Penalty.* Etzebeth prevented the try by illegally playing the ball on the ground breaking Law 13.2 or 13.1 depending on if you define his action as trying to tackle or trying to play the ball. It should have been a penalty try. Monye is correct.
28 Go to commentsWXV1 will have some interesting matches, I expect that each of the European Nations will play each of the Pac 4 countries. Ireland and USA will struggle but it should be a good match between them. Will the 7s players be back playing? England should be clear winners but France are often not good travellers and with it being in Canada they might slip up again but they will certainly be up for the BFs who have played almost all of their matches over the last two years at home, with mixed results and two of the wins were fortuitous against better sides. WXV2 will have some very competitive matches, assuming the 6N teams will be playing Japan, SA and Australia. Will be very interesting to see how Australia fare. They also have a game arranged beforehand with Ireland, I would expect 6N teams to beat Japan and SA but nothing is a given and teams are improving quickly.
10 Go to commentsCrikey, reading this article actually gives me hope as a Welshman! Surely your system can’t be as bad as ours? Gatland is desperate to build a new team from young wannabes but probably does not have the spine of the team sorted out. I think it’s fair to say most people in Wales are dreading the two games and expecting a thrashing.
29 Go to commentsIf in doubt blame the 10; its one of the most difficult and skilful jobs in team sport. The most vocal critics are usually, at whatever level, those who were never skilful enough to even dream of playing there for the 5D team at school.
8 Go to commentsThanks Nick It’s a shame alright. NSW is the heartland, and NSW thinking has always dominated RA (previously ARU) thinking because they have essentially been the same people. I’m talking about those in charge, not the players….and I say this as a New South Welshman! These chaps are connected by old school ties. They know a bit about Rugby, but not much. What they do know is out of date….by decades. They don't mind picking working class guys or New Zealanders as coaches, (and even players) so long as they know their place. A chap from Shore would never be coach, because then they might have to sack an old school chum! In any case, such chaps already have a top job in finance. It’s a problem that undermines the coach (that the chaps have picked) at every turn, right from the first game. Coaches lose confidence and end up “trying harder”, and ultimately making poor tactical and selection decisions. The players are split-off through either whispers, or the consequences of the poor tactics/selections which the coach ultimately makes as he tries harder to placate his “superiors” Injuries exacerbate all of this of course. So, yes, use the Queenslanders and Brumbies because by now, most of the Waratah players will be completely demoralised, disillusioned and untrusting. Some of them are good players too
29 Go to commentsFascinating article!
29 Go to commentsLeinster have regressed since Nienaber joined.
9 Go to commentsI think one thing that is overlooked is the input of Nienabar as generally speaking I don’t think he has added anything to the squad from what Lancaster has done. If he was as good as people say he wouldn’t have needed rassie to help with coaching (Given he was DoR not assistant coach). This was evident during the World Cup especially in semi final, rassie was making the big calls on tactics. In addition, and this could be debatable, but Leinster were pretty strung up start of season on never beating La Rochelle, that they may have put all their mental energy beating them in group stages and QF, as their performance against Northampton at Crome park was not as good in comparison.
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