Glasgow Warriors citing sweat, Jack Dempsey injury and Richie Gray French link

Franco Smith felt the scoreline didn’t reflect what Glasgow Warriors put into the match but the cold reality is that the 32-17 defeat at Ospreys was yet another stumble on the road for a squad which has not won an away game in the United Rugby Championship for over eight months.

That period covers the close season, of course, and Smith has been at the helm for only two of the eight consecutive URC away losses, but after the impressive home win against Cardiff last week the Warriors went to Swansea full of hope only to be soundly beaten.

Here’s what we learned from the round three clash:

Away day blues

Smith had tried to play down the significance of Glasgow’s away record on the eve of the match, stressing that the important thing was how his own side played rather than where they were playing.

But the truth remains that Warriors are a Jekyll and Hyde team. In full flow at Scotstoun last week, they put eight tries past Cardiff and played some wonderful running rugby off the foundations of a strong pack.

On Saturday in Swansea they never got into their stride. Cole Forbes had one thrilling run from deep which looked like culminating in a try for Sam Johnson only for the score to be ruled out for a knock-on by Scott Cummings.

Late tries from Oli Kebble and Thomas Gordon added a bit of respectability but the game was gone by then.

Cole Forbes enjoyed a searing first-half break for Glasgow Warriors but the try he set up for Sam Johnson was disallowed. (Photo by Ben Evans/Huw Evans/Shutterstock)

“The final scoreline was poor,” acknowledged Glasgow assistant Pete Murchie. “There’s no getting away from that. The tale of the game is going to revolve around the mistakes we made, and we have to get better. There’s no two ways about it.”

Citing sweat for Warriors

The Ospreys lost Gareth Anscombe early in the second half when the stand-off hurt his ribs in an incident involving Glasgow’s replacement hooker George Turner.

Toby Booth, the Welsh side’s coach, expects it to be looked at by the citing officer

“It was a dead ball and he can’t see it coming, so we need to just see what that looks like,” Booth said. “We will have a look at it, the citing officer I am sure will have a look at it and it is out of our hands.”

Back row woes

Anscombe wasn’t the only one to pick up a rib injury. There were only two minutes on the clock when Jack Dempsey needed treatment. The Warriors No 8 played on for ten minutes before being replaced by Ryan Wilson.

It’s the third back-row injury in a week for Glasgow. Rory Darge was ruled out for “several months” after dislocating his ankle against Cardiff and Matt Fagerson missed the game against Ospreys after picking up a rib injury in training.

Smith will hope Fagerson and Dempsey can be patched up in time for a tough run of games against the Bulls, Sharks and Lions.

French leave for Richie Gray?

Richie Gray has been a mainstay in the Glasgow boiler-room but the lock has been linked with a move back to France at the end of the season.

The Rugby Paper is reporting interest from Brive.

Gray, 33, has played previously in France for Castres and Toulouse, helping the latter win the Top 14 in 2019.