Glasgow 20 - 10 Wasps: Superb Warriors find top form to stun Wasps

Published on Sunday 16 January 2011 20:29

AN UNDER-strength Glasgow side claimed another stunning Heineken Cup champions' scalp at a windy Firhill yesterday by outgunning a Wasps side that will now struggle to reach the quarter-finals.

• Glasgow scrum-half Colin Gregor, whose second-half try set Glasgow on the way to a memorable victory, tries to break clear of the close attentions of the Wasps defence at Firhill yesterday. Picture: Ian Georgeson

The knockout stages are not in Glasgow's thoughts, but a team missing six Test players, namely Johnnie Beattie, John Barclay, Chris Cusiter, Graeme Morrison, Max Evans and DTH van der Merwe, cast that aside as effectively as they did the ploughed field of a pitch at Firhill - Partick Thistle having played the day before - to grasp a morale-boosting victory that rivals the 2009 beating of Toulouse at a similar stage of the competition.

They fully deserved their win, dominating lengthy spells of possession and territory, having the edge often in the scrum and lineout, and making the right decisions at key times.

It started from the opening minute when Glasgow defied the wind and boggy pitch to run the ball out of their 22 through fly-half Ruaridh Jackson, Colin Gregor, Richie Vernon, Moray Low and Ryan Wilson all to the fore, before Jackson converted his first penalty just two minutes in after a second high tackle by Wasps.

With Vernon revelling in his openside flanker role and Gregor sniping around the fringes, Glasgow took the game to Wasps, but the Premiership visitors were ferocious in the tackle, the veteran Test back row of Serge Betsen, Joe Worsley and Andy Powell flying into contact and wrapping players up, and in Dave Walder they had a kicker able to exploit Glasgow indiscipline. He levelled the scores early on and then Wasps streaked ahead.

Glasgow, ironically, had Wasps under pressure in the scrum when Joe Simpson, the visiting scrum-half, took off from the base deep into the home half, and fired a wide pass to Tom Varndell on the left touchline. The England winger could not be halted from 20 metres out and Walder's conversion put the visitors 10-3 up with 12 minutes gone.

A bizarre pass from Al Kellock to no-one actually led to Glasgow's next points, Wasps being penalised in the ensuing ruck, and Jackson converting the penalty from 30 metres.

After another series of good, flowing attack, with slick off-loading, Glasgow's growing confidence was evident when they opted to kick a penalty to touch and attack off the lineout.Still, however, despite terrific effort and varied attack, the Warriors could not find a way through the formidable Wasps defence.

Glasgow were making all the running with good ambition from deep, Peter Murchie showing up well in defence and attack, and even turned a Wasps scrum with a terrific shove on the edge of the visitors' 22, but still the Warriors struggled to come up with the big ball-carry or bit of side-stepping magic to bring the clinical finish to good build-up.

They were fortunate even to go into the interval 10-6 behind as Walder fell short with a penalty from 50 metres, and there was a sense of relief when Jackson kicked the ball straight out to end the half as the dangerous Wasps threatened a last-gasp score.

The sun met the teams for the second half and Jackson brightened the home mood after four minutes with a third penalty, though referee James Jones continued to attract the ire of the great Firhill support when he refused to sin-bin Simon Shaw, the second Wasps player to be guilty of a deliberate knock-on of the like Jones deemed worthy of a yellow card for Glasgow's Bernardo Stortoni at Munster last week.

But then Glasgow uncorked a finish nine minutes in. Ironically, Wasps had been enjoying their best spell in possession, but when the ball was dropped by hooker Tom Lindsay in midfield the Warriors countered.

The impressive Wilson - a former Wasps trialist and late replacement for Beattie -snapped up ball around the ten-metre line, and supplied Richie Vernon, who found Federico Arambaru and Stortoni drew and fed Colin Shaw superbly on halfway.

Shaw darted in off the left wing through traffic and made 20 metres before delivering an exquisite pass out of the tackle to Gregor, that left the scrum-half with an easy run-in.

Jackson took the gloss off it by missing the relatively easy conversion, but Glasgow finally had reward for their domination of possession and, crucially, were in front on the scoreboard with half an hour of the game remaining.

Stortoni almost reached an interception and a fine 'Garryowen' by Jackson was plucked from the air by Murchie, while No 8 Wilson - later voted 'Man of the Match' - continued to cause the visitors problems with a charging run into the Wasps underbelly.

It came to nought, but Wasps were visibly frustrated at failing to find any rhythm in possession.

They had lineouts pilfered and coughed up ball with a regularity that had Shaun Edwards, the Wasps head coach, sporting his best 'bulldog-chewing-a-wasp' look at the back of a stand. The game was Glasgow's for the taking.After falling short from a long way out, Jackson converted his fourth penalty from around 40 metres wide on the left, stretching the home lead to seven points and then cleared well from his 22, and Glasgow duly stole the lineout, to send the voluble Firhill faithful into raptures.

Jackson had another chance with ten minutes to go but his penalty this time came back off a post, however, signs that this was not Wasps day came when Al Kellock, the Glasgow skipper, kicked long downfield and Richard Haughton, having marked his entry to the game with a fine catch moments earlier, threw a wild pass intended for Varndell behind his posts and out of play.

Glasgow took the easy possession and controlled ball until setting it on a plate for Jackson to slot a drop-goal that wrapped up the victory with four minutes remaining and delivered a welcome shot in the arm to Glasgow and Scottish rugby.

Scorers: Glasgow: Try: Gregor; Pens: Jackson 4; Drop-goal: Jackson. Wasps: Try: Varndell; Pen: Walder; Con: Walder.

Glasgow: B Stortoni; C Shaw, F Arambaru, P Murchie, H O'Hare; R Jackson, C Gregor; R Grant, D Hall, M Low, R Gray, A Kellock (capt), R Harley, R Vernon, R Wilson. Subs: J Welsh for Grant 16-24mins, K Tkachuk for Low, A Muldowney for Gray, both 60, P MacArthur for Hall 66, C Fusaro for Wilson, P Horne for Murchie, both 77, H Pyrgos for Gregor 79.

Wasps: M van Gisbergen; T Varndell, B Jacobs (capt), R Flutey, D Lemi; D Walder, J Simpson; T Payne, T Lindsay, Z Taulafo, S Shaw, J Cannon, J Worsley, S Betsen, A Powell. Subs: B Broster for for Tauzafo, R Birkett for Cannon, both 51mins, M Mayhew for Lindsay, C Beech for Payne, M Veale for Betsen, all 66, R Haughton for van Gisbergen 70, D Waldouck for Jacobs 73, N Berry for Simpson 77.