Benetton Treviso 13 - 24 Glasgow Warriors: Tommy Seymour guns down Italians

SCORERS:

Treviso: Try: Vosawai. Con: Burton. Pens: Burton, Botes.

Glasgow: Tries: Seymour (2). Con: Wight. Pens: Jackson (3), Wight.

They had two short-handed tries from winger Tommy Seymour to thank for their victory after struggling for much of the game to match Treviso’s physicality in what were appalling conditions.

Both tries came in the final quarter of the match and arrived just as Treviso were tightening their grip on proceedings.

Both scores also came with Glasgow replacement Tim Swinson sitting in the sin bin. There was something a little fortuitious about each touchdown – not that Gregor Townsend will be moaning too loudly this morning.

The win was a welcome antidote to the feel-bad factor which has enveloped Scottish rugby after twin failures in Europe. Still, national coach Andy Robinson had a heart-stopping moment when Ryan Grant was left lying prone on the turf for a minute or so at the end of the first half. Had the big loosehead suffered a serious injury, Scotland may have been tempted to ask the All Blacks for uncontested scrums.

Thankfully, Grant jumped to his feet but the Glasgow scrum, so impressive against Northampton and Ulster, was given a serious examination by Treviso, who will feel that they enjoyed the whip hand over the course.

In fact the scrums were a microcosm of the game itself... a horrible mess from first to last. There was barely a scrum that didn’t go to ground at least once with a slew of penalties going one way then the other. It was painful to watch and probably not a bundle if fun to play in either.

Glasgow started well enough with three penalties, two of which Ruaridh Jackson slotted to give the visitors a handy 6-0 lead. It didn’t last long because two Fijians then had a big say in this match.

First, Glasgow’s winger Niko Matawalu was a little lucky to stay on the field after slapping at a Treviso pass that might have led to a try. The referee contended himself with a scrum but Treviso still made good use of the attacking position. Just a couple of plays later, giant Fijian No.8 Manoa Vosawai barged past Henry Pyrgos – hardly a match of equals – to score the first try of the match.

It was a worrying sign, reminiscent of the way Ulster bullied their way past the Glasgow defence. If the Warriors are about anything, it is not giving second best in any physical battle but, for the second weekend in succession, that claim was difficult to maintain – especially after Treviso drove lineouts for ten, 20 or even 30 metres at a time. But, if Glasgow didn’t help themselves, they also didn’t get much help from the officials in the first half.

Srum-half Pyrgos was unlucky not to score when he hacked ahead and found himself in a foot race for the ball which bobbled over the Treviso line. Firstly Tommaso Bevenuti appeared to tug his shirt and then, as Prygos threatened to get to the ball first, the Italian centre simply tackled him off the ball. The Italian assistant referee aparently saw nothing amiss.

A Kris Burton penalty gave Treviso a 10-6 lead at the break but, while Glasgow were under the cosh for much of the third quarter, still it was the visitors who edged into the lead. Jackson slotted a penalty on 43 minutes before giving way to Scott Wight, who nudged his team back into the lead with Glasgow’s fourth penalty on 55 minutes.

Just as the momentum in this match appeared to be swinging Glasgow’s way, Tim Swinson, only recently on the pitch for Tom Ryder, was almost immediately sent from the field. Not for the first time the problem came about due to Treviso’s mauling game, to which Glasgow had no answer.

Swinson dropped the maul illegally, received his marching orders and Tobias Botes stepped up to nose Treviso in front. The home scrum-half’s next contribution was less impressive. He threw a wild pass that fell between two colleagues and Seymour pounced.

The winger hacked ahead and reached the ball a split second before it went dead to score.

That slice of fortune was quickly followed by another. On the attack again, Wight launched a cross kick towards Al Kellock and Seymour, both of whom were lurking on the right wing. It looked as though the ball was knocked on by the Glasgow skipper, who then impeded Tommaso Iannone as the Italian winger attempted to beat Seymour to the loose ball but the Irish referee was happy to award the try. Poetic justice perhaps for Pyrgos’ first-half claims.

There was still time for Glasgow’s giant prop Ofa Fainga’anuku to come on to the field and then be sent almost immediately to the sin bin for tackling an opponent within ten metres (actually within one metre) of a tapped penalty. It mattered not. On yesterday’s evidence Glasgow are quite comfortable playing with 14 men and they ran the clock down without further ado.

There are harder tasks ahead but Gregor Townsend’s team has made a =highly satisfactory start to their league campaign.

Treviso: McLean; Loamanu, Benvenuti, Sgarbi, Iannone; Burton (Fabio 43) Fernandez-Rouyet (Rizzo 54) Sbaraglini (Ghiraldini 54), Di Santo (Lorenzo 38), Minto,Van Zyl (c) (Pavanello 54), Favaro, Zanni, Vosawai (Williams 60).

Glasgow: Murchie, Seymour, Hogg, Dunbar, Matawalu, Jackson (Wight 54), Pyrgos, Grant (Reid 65), Gillies (Hall 45), Cusack (Fainga’anuku 74), Ryder (Swinson 54), Kellock (c), Harley, Barclay, Wilson.

Referee: Leo Golgan (IRFU).