Rob Harley scored a 78th-minute try to guide the Glasgow Warriors to a thrilling 29-26 bonus-point win over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday. MARIETTE ADAMS reports.
Trailing by two points with four minutes remaining, the Warriors ran the ball out of their own half, and with the Cheetahs’ defence still tracking back, Finn Russell executed a perfect kick-pass that sat up for replacement Harley to score the match-winning try.
The Warriors were far from perfect. They were second best at the lineouts and scrums and made more handling errors than the Cheetahs. But in the end, they managed to score four tries, including a brace from blindside flank Callum Gibbins to extend their unbeaten start to the season to six wins. They’ve collected 28 log points out of a possible 30 to increase their advantage at the top of Conference A log.
The Cheetahs showed their intent to play a high-paced attacking game right from the off, but failed to make inroads against the resistant Glasgow defence. Instead, it would be the visitors who took their chance for some early points when aggressive work at the breakdown earned them a kickable penalty.
Boasting a perfect 100% record off the tee coming into this match-up, Russell stepped up to slot his 17th successful attempt of the season to put his team 3-0 up.
The Cheetahs were in front nine minutes later when Sergeal Petersen rounded off a beautifully orchestrated team try in the right corner. From a penalty in his own half, scrumhalf Tian Meyer took a quick tap and carried the ball well into opposition territory. Glasgow scrambled back well, but the Cheetahs held on to possession, and when a lofted pass found Rosko Specman in space, Petersen was in support with a superb loop-around run to score.
Up to that point, the Warriors had struggled to retain possession for extended periods and were well pinned back in their own half. Then a sudden momentum shift saw the Warriors bash and probe away at the line, resulting in a converted try for flank Callum Gibbins.
The Cheetahs found themselves on the back foot and battled to clear their lines. With half-time beckoning and the Warriors on the attack again, the ball was turned over. Spotting the acres of space at the back, lock Justin Basson hacked the ball forward and it bounced kindly for Specman to score against the run of play. Ernst Stapelberg knocked over the conversion as the Cheetahs took a 17-10 lead.
The second half was quite unstructured and frenetic. An intercept inside the 22 saw Gibbins score his second of the match as they ran in a try from 70m out.
Using their set piece as a strike weapon to earn penalties, the Cheetahs regained the lead through Stapelberg, who kicked three more penalties.
Henry Pyrgos came off the bench to dot down for Glasgow’s third try of the game between Stapelberg’s efforts, to set-up a nervy finale.
The Warriors then held their nerve in the final moments of the match to inflict a heart-breaking defeat on the Cheetahs. But Russell’s kicking streak ended at 20 as he skewed the last conversion attempt.
Cheetahs – Tries: Sergeal Petersen, Rosko Specman. Conversions: Ernst Stapelberg (2). Penalties: Stapelberg (2).
Glasgow Warriors – Tries: Callum Gibbins (2), Henry Pyrgos, Rob Harley. Conversions: Finn Russell (3). Penalty: Russell.
Cheetahs – 15 Sergeal Petersen, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Francois Venter (c), 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Ernst Stapelberg, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Oupa Mohoje, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Charles Marais.
Subs: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Johan Coetzee, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Nico Lee, 23 Luther Obi.
Glasgow Warriors – 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Callum Gibbins, 6 Ryan Wilson (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Subs: 16 Geroge Turner, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Brian Alainu’uese, 20 Rob Harley, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Niko Matawalu.
Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images
