Glasgow Warriors 13-27 Munster

  • 23 November 2020

Two late tries condemned Glasgow Warriors to defeat this evening, as Munster ground their way to a 27-13 victory at Scotstoun.

The men in red ran in four tries to claim a try bonus-point under the Monday night lights, tries from Glenn Bryce and Grant Stewart ultimately proving in vain for the home side.

The suitably dreich November conditions made any attempts at flowing rugby tricky for both sides in the opening exchanges, with the visitors enjoying the bulk of the early possession. On 10 minutes, that possession was turned into points. Repeat penalties saw Munster go to the corner, and whilst Glasgow’s defence held up initially the second short-range lineout saw Munster captain Billy Holland driven over for the opening score. Ben Healy’s kick just had enough to scrape over the crossbar, giving the visitors a 7-0 lead.

Straight from the restart, the home side hit back. Lewis Bean’s take at the lineout gave Glasgow the platform that allowed Sean Kennedy to free Tommy Seymour, and the winger duly dissected the Munster defence. His pass found the supporting Robbie Nairn via the Scotstoun pitch, before Bryce was on hand to apply the finishing touch out wide. The conversion drifted wide, but the home side had served notice of their intent.

That intent was converted to a lead just moments later; a scrum following Healy’s restart going straight into touch resulted in a penalty, which Brandon Thomson – on for a head knock to Nick Grigg – duly lined up from halfway. The South African’s monster of a kick sailed over with room to spare, and the Warriors had an 8-7 lead after the opening quarter.

Despite Seymour following Grigg to the sidelines, Glasgow were probing for another opening in the Munster defence. Thomson and Bryce were pinning the visitors in their own territory, as the Warriors looked to add to their tally.

Yet the next score would go the way of the Munstermen, with Johann van Graan’s side producing a near-carbon copy of their opening try. The only difference would be the scorer, as Fineen Wycherley emerged with the ball from a close-range maul. Healy’s conversion made it 12-8, and despite the best efforts of Bryce and TJ Ioane with the final play of the half the score would be unchanged at the interval.

It would be the visitors who would open the scoring in the second stanza, as Healy split the uprights from 45 metres after a scrum penalty went the way of the visitors. The fly-half could have doubled up moments later, but for the wind pushing the penalty attempt wide.

The wind would once again play havoc with territorial kicking on 56 minutes, with the Warriors benefitting on this occasion. A clearing kick from Healy on his own line travelled fully 100 metres to bounce dead at the opposite end of the pitch, giving the Warriors both possession and field position.

From there, the home side went to work, kicking penalty after penalty to the corner in search of a second try. After multiple illegal interventions, it was eventually Holland that was shown the yellow card by the referee. From the next drive, Glasgow finally found their breakthrough. After finding Rob Harley with the throw, Stewart tucked himself away at the back of an unstoppable maul to crash over. Horne’s conversion drifted wide, leaving the gap at two points with 15 minutes to play.

Just two minutes later, though, the numerical advantage for Glasgow was wiped out as Ryan Wilson was shown a yellow card following a flare-up on the home side’s 22. With Munster kicking to the corner, the third try arrived on 70 minutes. This time it was Gavin Coombes who powered over from a close-range carry, Healy adding the extras for a 22-13 lead.

Knowing they needed to score next, the Warriors attacked with renewed urgency. Fotu Lokotui and Robbie Fergusson were each stopped agonisingly short, before Munster produced a turnover under their own posts to clear their lines.

Instead, it would be the visitors to wrap up the night with a try. With the Warriors having halted another maul inside their own 22, Jean Kleyn broke away down the touchline to touch down out wide, despite the best efforts of Kennedy. Hanrahan’s conversion was astray, but all five points would be going back to Munster.

A six day turnaround means there will be no time to dwell on the result for Wilson’s men, however; a trip to face Cardiff Blues at their temporary home of Rodney Parade on Sunday provides the next opportunity for the Warriors to get their 2020/21 season back to winning ways.

live commentary 8:15 PM Monday 23 Nov 2020

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Kick-off 8:15 PM

Glasgow Warriors

Munster

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