Jack Dempsey injury adds to Glasgow Warriors woes ahead of run of games against South African sides

Glasgow Warriors’ misery in Wales was compounded by an injury to Jack Dempsey.

Warriors' Jack Dempsey was injured in the early stages of the match against Ospreys in Swansea. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The influential No 8 was forced off early in the first half after suffering a blow to the ribs. The incident happened in the second minute of Glasgow’s 32-17 loss to the Ospreys. Dempsey tried to play through the pain but admitted defeat after 12 minutes and was replaced by Ryan Wilson.

The Aussie international has been in fine form and Warriors will hope the injury is not too serious as they embark on a tough run of three fixtures against South African sides. They host the Bulls on Friday before heading south to play the Sharks in Durban and the Lions in Johannesburg.

Glasgow’s struggles on the road have been well documented and they showed no signs of abating in Swansea. They scored very late tries through Oli Kebble and Thomas Gordon but the Ospreys had the game won by then with a try double from the impressive Keelan Giles and single scores from George North and Reuben Morgan Williams.

“We're obviously very disappointed with the loss,” said Glasgow winger Rufus McLean. “We had a lot of entries into their 22 but unfortunately we couldn't convert them. We'll review it and go again next week.”

The Warriors have now lost two of their first three games under new coach Franco Smith, both away from home. For Ospreys, it was their first win of the season after a draw with Scarlets and a narrow home defeat by the Lions.

“We were unlucky not to come away with the win last week, and I’m just grateful for the win this week,” said Giles.

“It was a good performance from the boys. Coming close against Scarlets and close against the Lions last week, it was very important for the home fans to get that win today.”