The key stat that should give Glasgow Warriors optimism in Europe as George Horne moves ahead of club great

George Horne is too busy forging ahead with Glasgow Warriors to worry about individual records but the scrum-half achieved a notable landmark in Saturday night’s stirring victory over Sale Sharks in the Investec Champions Cup.

His first-half hat-trick took him to 50 tries for the club, and he is only the second Warriors player to reach the half-century. He trails DTH van der Merwe who managed 54 but has leapt ahead of another Glasgow great, Tommy Seymour, who got 48.

Horne has always been an adept finisher but his second try against Sale was a piece of economic brilliance as he scored from the narrowest of strips of Scotstoun’s artificial turf.

George Horne aims a delicate kick down the line on the way to scoring the second try of his hat-trick for Glasgow Warriors against Sale Sharks. | SNS Group

It was a victory founded on a thrilling first-half performance in which Glasgow scored five tries to lead 33-12 at the turn, Kyle Rowe and Huw Jones adding to Horne's treble. They eventually won the tie 38-19, with Scott Cummings adding a sixth try after the break.

Asked if he now had former team-mate van der Merwe’s record in his sights, Horne was typically modest.

“Ah, we'll see, it would be nice,” he said. “Never write it off. I met up with Tommy Seymour the other week and he was like, ‘you're still a couple behind me aren't you?’ I think I've passed him now which is quite funny.”

George Horne evades Arron Reed's tackle to score the second try for Glasgow against Sale. | SNS Group

Making a winning start to their European campaign was more important to Horne than reaching the 50-try mark.

“We're a strange bunch as rugby players,” said the scrum-half who was also sin-binned and kicked three conversions during an eventful first half. “You never take time to look back and give yourself the praise for what you've done, you're always looking ahead to the next game. Maybe one day after I've finished or in a few years I'll look back and I can be proud of that little stat.”

Another pertinent stat is that prior to Saturday’s match, Glasgow had won only 20.8 per cent of their opening games in Europe’s top tier competition. The importance of getting off to a winning start cannot be overstated, particularly when there are only three more pool stage games to come. The Warriors travel to France to take on Toulon on Sunday then, in January, they will host Racing 92 and play Harlequins at the Stoop.

The top four sides will qualify for the last 16 (Stormers are also in Pool 4) but finishing first or second would guarantee a home tie and go a long way to realising their ambition to go deep in the competition. Having won the United Rugby Championship last season, they’ve got a taste for success.

George Horne just managed to ground the ball for his second try. | SNS Group

“As a team, in big games we've done a lot of losing over the last couple of years, and then at the tail end of last year we managed to turn those experiences into a massive win,” said Horne.

“We now know what it takes to win big games, we've got that taste for it and we want to go as far as we can. But in this competition you've got to be at your best every week, so that will be the focus going into Toulon. They had a massive result away from home against the Stormers so we know it's going to be a huge challenge, but we're excited for it.”

Scorers: Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Horne 3, Rowe, Jones, Cummings. Cons: Horne 3, Jordan. Sale Sharks: Tries: Penalty try, Reed, Carpenter. Cons: R du Preez.

Yellow cards: Horne (Glasgow 22min), Fraser (Glasgow 79min)

Glasgow Warriors: J McKay; S Cancelliere (J Dobie 67), H Jones, S Tuipulotu, K Rowe; T Jordan (D Weir 67), G Horne; J Bhatti (R Sutherland 53), G Hiddleston (J Matthews 53), Z Fagerson (S Talakai 53), O Oguntibeju (A Samuel 53), S Cummings, M Fagerson, R Darge (A Fraser 73), H Venter (J Mann 67).

Sale Sharks: J Carpenter; W Addison (T Curtis 46), L James, S Bedlow, A Reed; R du Preez, G Warr (R Quirke 46); B Rodd (S McIntyre 57), T McElroy, A Opoku-Fordjour (J Harper 57), E van Rhyn (B Bamber 57), H Andrews (J Hill 52), J-L du Preez, T Curry, D du Preez (S Dugdale 66). Replacement not used: H Thompson,.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy).

Attendance: 6,889.