'Progression': Strong Glasgow Warriors take down bad-tempered Benetton but suffer injuries on bruising night

A return to Scotstoun brought a return to winning ways for Glasgow Warriors, who rediscovered their mojo with a comprehensive 42-10 dismantling of an ill-disciplined Benetton who went down to 12 men at one point in the second half.

Franco Smith’s side fluffed their lines last week, losing to Ulster in Belfast on the United Rugby Championship’s opening weekend. But there were no mishaps on home turf, where they haven’t lost a regular URC game since Leinster won here in October 2021.

"It was definitely a progression from last week," said the Glasgow coach. "We saw some good attacking phases. There were a few early season stumbling blocks around the lineout but we'll sort them out next week."

This was the Warriors' first competitive home match since being crowned URC champions and they marked the occasion with six tries in a 42-10 victory. Kyle Steyn got two of them and played a captain’s innings. He was dangerous throughout, assured in the air and a real leader on a night when the home side kept their heads and the visitors didn’t.

The worst offender was Scott Scrafton, the Benetton lock, who was rightly red-carded for dipping his shoulder into Adam Hastings’ head just before half-time. Hastings, starting his first game since rejoining Glasgow from Gloucester, landed two conversions and looked assured but was unable to return for the second half. Steyn also limped off and Geroge Horne failed an HIA. The better news was tries for Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jamie Dobie and Euan Ferrie to add to Steyn’s double

Glasgow Warriors were too strong for a bad-tempered Benetton team. | SNS Group

Smith had spoken pre-match of trying to protect his players from increased expectations, but there was no sense of Warriors being affected by their champion status. They started briskly and were ahead after five minutes. Josh McKay’s break up the left had Benetton scrambling to cover, but they had no answer as the full-back played it out to Kyle Rowe who moved it back inside to the supporting Steyn to score.

Benetton appeared to draw level seven minutes later but the score was chalked off in unusual circumstances. Paolo Odogwu had only been on the field for 30 seconds as a replacement for the injured Onisi Ratave when he finished in the corner. The score was duly given after the TMO checked the grounding. Jacob Umaga landed the conversion from out on the touchline but before they could restart there was another TMO check which decided there had been a forward pass from Andy Uren to Marco Zanon in the build-up. It was the right decision but it took an awfully long time to get there.

Benetton’s misery was compounded when Glasgow scored their second converted try a few minutes later and instead of being on level terms, the visitors found themselves 14-0 behind. Matt Fagerson was the scorer this time but he owed a big debt to the excellent Sione Tuipulotu who cut inside, spun then fed the No 8.

Benetton got the try they deserved eight minutes before the break when prop Mirco Spagnolo was driven over from a lineout maul. Umaga’s conversion made it 14-7.

It was then Glasgow’s turn to feel aggrieved about a TMO intervention as they had a brilliantly improvised score ruled out. Tuipulotu started and finished the move, threading through a grubber which bounced nicely for Jordan who batted it back inside one-handed for Tuipulotu to score. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Jordan’s instinctive pass was forward.

Rory Darge powers through to score for Glasgow Warriors. | SNS Group

Referee Marius van der Westhuizen was having to earn his corn and there was more drama in the final minute of the half when Scrafton was sent off for taking out Hastings. In truth, it was an easy decision for the South African official after Scrafton dropped his shoulder into Hastings’ head after the fly-half had chipped over him. “A high level of danger,” concluded van der Westhuizen.

It was really poor stuff from Benetton’s Kiwi lock and it ended Hastings’ night, with Duncan Weir replacing him for the second half. The Italians soon crumbled, conceding two tries in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The first was largely self-inflicted, Malakai Fekitoa coughing up possession under pressure from Jordan who played in Darge to score. Dobie then got Glasgow’s fourth try, cutting inside after Steyn’s offload from the ground. Weir converted both to move the Warriors 28-10 ahead.

Benetton's cause wasn’t helped by two quickfire yellow cards which reduced them to 12 men. Odogwu was first to walk, after taking out Steyn in the air. He was followed to the sin bin by Riccardo Favretto who tackled Dobie without retreating 10 metres at a penalty. In between, Steyn scored his second and Glasgow’s fifth try but limped off shortly afterwards.

Ferrie, who ended up playing on the wing after Steyn’s departure, put the seal on the win with Glasgow’s sixth try.

Match details

Scorers: Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Steyn 2, M Fagerson, Darge, Dobie, Ferrie. Cons: Hastings 2, Weir 4.

Benetton: Try: Spagnolo. Con: Umaga. Pen: Umaga.

Red card: Scrafton (Benetton, 40min). Yellow card: Odogwu (Benetton, 62min), Favretto (Benetton, 67min).

Glasgow Warriors: J McKay; K Steyn (G Horne 52; Steyn 61; J Matthews 70), S Tuipulotu, T Jordan, K Rowe; A Hastings (D Weir 40), J Dobie; N McBeth (R Sutherland 52), G Hiddleston, Z Fagerson (S Talakai 52), M Williamson (A Samuel 71, R Gray (S Cummings 52), E Ferrie, R Darge, M Fagerson (G Brown 52).

Benetton: M Gallagher; L Lynagh, M Fekitoa, M Zanon, O Ratave (P Odogwu 12); J Umaga (L Marin 61), A Uren (A Garbisi 54); M Spagnolo (D Aminu 40), S Maile (M Manfredi 50), S Ferrari (R Genovese 50), S Scrafton, R Favretto, A Izekor (G Marini 57), M Zuliani, S Negri (T Halafihi 61).

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU).

Attendance: 6,220.