How Glasgow Warriors made history with gritty win over stubborn Lions at Scotstoun

Glasgow Warriors' Tom Jordan bursts through the Lions defence to score his try.

It wasn’t as free-flowing as they would have liked, and they were never quite able to fully shake off a hugely physical Emirates Lions side, but they did enough to win this EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final 31-21. They will now face the Scarlets in south Wales on the last weekend of April, with a place in the final in Dublin in May on offer to the winners. The other semi-final will be between Toulon and Benetton.

This was history unfolding at Scotstoun: never before have the Warriors reached a European semi. And there could be more landmark moments to come in a season which remains ripe with opportunity. But the truth is that Glasgow will have to play better than this if they are to land a major trophy. They started well but the Lions, playing with plenty brute force, made it difficult and the home side had to dig deep. They scored four good tries, through Jack Dempsey, Jamie Dobie, Zander Fagerson and Tom Jordan. George Horne converted all of them and also landed a penalty but the Lions responded with tries from Sanele Nohamba, Francke Horn and Morne Brandon. Glasgow didn't have as much of the ball as they would have liked but their defence was outstanding and probably won them the game.

The Lions lost Rabz Maxwane after the winger came off worst in a collision with Matt Fagerson and there was a lengthy delay as he received treatment. Glasgow were on the attack straight from the restart and notched the game’s opening try soon after. It came from a perfectly executed lineout move in which they shaped to use the forwards only for Horne to give the crash ball to Sione Tuipulotu, who offloaded to the supporting Dempsey to score. It was a smart bit of play and showed there was more to the Warriors lineout playbook than driving mauls. Horne converted.The second try also began with a lineout, but this time the ball was played out the line and there was some textbook handling before Tuipulotu flicked it on to Dobie who crossed in the corner, with Horne once again adding the extras.

Warriors' Jack Dempsey celebrates his try as Glasgow made history.

The Lions had played second fiddle to their hosts for the vast majority of the first half but they came into the game as the interval approached. Glasgow’s defence had been excellent but a period of sustained pressure looked to have yielded a try for livewire scrum-half Sanele Nohamba, only for the score to be chalked off for a double – possibly triple – movement. Nohamba wasn’t to be denied, however. Three minutes into the second half he darted over from a quick tap penalty with the Warriors caught napping. It was a bad try to lose and Nohamba’s conversion compounded the problem as the home side saw their lead cut to seven points.

It was a wake-up call and it seemed to rouse Glasgow from their slumber. They went straight up the other end and Zander Fagerson plunged over from close range, with Horne converting to make 21-7. Things started to get a little fractured after that, with Glasgow unable to pull away, and Smith decided things needed to be shaken up. Never one to do things by halves, the coach made a sextuple substitution, replacing his front five and stand-off. It did not have the desired effect and the Lions scored their second try almost immediately, No 8 Horn powering his way to the line despite the efforts of Darge and co. The conversion by Gianni Lombard brought the Lions back to within seven points so when Glasgow were awarded a scrum penalty with 11 minutes remaining they opted for a kick at goal and Horne landed it impressively to give the home side a bit of breathing space.

Jordan, the replacement fly-half, then scored Glasgow’s fourth try after a good break from Huw Jones but the Lions refused to be shaken off and sub prop Morne Brandon once again cut the Warriors’ lead with a try four minutes from time. However, Glasgow had enough in the tank and can now look forward to facing Scarlets in the semis at the end of the month.

Glasgow Warriors scorers: Tries: Dempsey, Dobie, Z Fagerson, Jordan. Cons: G Horne 4. Pens: G Horne. Emirates Lions scorers: Tries: Nohamba, F Horn, Brandon. Cons: Nohamba, Lombard 2.

Glasgow Warriors: O Smith; K Steyn (c), H Jones, S Tuipulotu (A Price 75), J Dobie; D Miotti (T Jordan 38-40; 61), G Horne; J Bhatti (N McBeth 61), G Turner (J Matthews 61), Z Fagerson (S Berghan 61), S Cummings (JP du Preez 61), R Gray (L Bean 61), M Fagerson, R Darge (T Gordon 75), J Dempsey.

Emirates Lions: Q Horn; R Maxwane (A Coetzee 8), M Rass (R Jonker 75), M Louw, E van der Merwe; G Lombard, S Nohamba (M van den Berg 60); JP Smith (R Rijnsburger 50), 2. PJ Botha (M Brandon 67), A Ntlabakanye (R Dreyer 67), W Alberts, R Schoeman, J Kriel (T Gordon 67), R Venter (R Delport 16), F Horn.

Referee: Matthew Carley (England).

Attendance: 4,249.