Defeat to Munster confirms worst Glasgow start in 15 years
Glasgow have made their worst start to a league campaign in 15 years after slumping to a 27-13 defeat against Munster at Scotstoun. Danny Wilson’s team have won just one of their opening six Guinness PRO14 fixtures so far, equalling the wretched run posted by Hugh Campbell’s team back in 2005/06 when the club finished bottom of the old Celtic League.
Munster clinched victory thanks to four lineout drives, with Billy Holland, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes and Jean Kleyn all crossing the whitewash to maintain the Conference B leaders’ 100 per cent start to the campaign.
Glasgow did pull within two points of their Limerick rivals late on after tries from Glenn Bryce and Grant Stewart but it was Munster smiling at the end of a game that threatened to boil over more than once.
While Warriors struggled to cope with the wind and rain swirling around Scotstoun in the opening ten minutes, with skipper Ryan Wilson twice letting Stewart’s lineout throws slip through his fingers, Munster had no such difficulty making their set-piece stick.
The opening points came on eleven minutes as Warriors overcommitted with their blitz defence, allowing Holland to crash through for a try converted by Ben Healy. However, the response from Wilson’s men was immediate. Sean Kennedy delayed his pass for a moment before releasing Tommy Seymour charging through the middle.
Superb @Munsterrugby continued their winning start with a first win over @GlasgowWarriors at Scotstoun since 2016 ?
A cracking BP win for Johann van Graan’s men in testing conditions ? #GuinnessPRO14 match highlights ?? pic.twitter.com/VW5pv9aPEy
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) November 23, 2020
The former Scotland wing overthrew his pass but Robbie Nairn did well to scoop it off the floor before popping on to Bryce to flop over the line for his first league try in three and a half years. Pete Horne missed the conversion but Brandon Thomson was on target as he nailed a huge penalty from the halfway line soon after to put Glasgow in front.
Having had such joy with the line-out early on, it was not surprising to see Munster return to their trusty ploy again as they scored their second touchdown with a re-run of the first, this time with Wycherley getting across the line.
Healy’s conversion came back off the post to leave Munster 12-8 ahead at the break. Glasgow started the second period in a generous mood as they coughed up penalties and possession. However, Healy could only slot one of the three attempts he made at the posts in the first ten minutes of the second period.
And when Warriors sorted their discipline out, they were able to pin Munster back in the same corner from which the visitors got their first-half scores. It proved to be just as fruitful an area for Wilson’s team with 15 minutes left as hooker Stewart eventually bundled his way through the defence of the Irish province, who were down to 14 men after Holland was sin-binned for his team’s repeated illegal attempts to halt the hosts’ advance.
Glasgow still trailed, however, as Thomson failed to convert while Ryan Wilson sparked a melee when he dived on Munster scrum-half Craig Casey to earn a yellow of his own. With the numbers evened up, Munster put daylight between the teams with ten minutes left as another lineout drive softened up Glasgow before Coombes steamed over for a try converted by Healy.
The forwards again did the damage moments later as Kleyn broke down the blindside to seal a bonus-point victory.
Moving on from Twickenham debaclehttps://t.co/fMlflXUwsS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 24, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
6 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
6 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
6 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to comments