Glasgow handed brutal URC wake-up call in South Africa

Glasgow Warriors were given a rude URC wake-up call by the Lions at Ellis Park, the league leaders suffering a humiliating 54-12 defeat in Johannesburg.

The home side set the tone early, Henco van Wyk crossing inside five minutes before Erich Cronje finished sharply out wide after slick handling from Siba Mahashe and Francke Horn.

Glasgow offered resistance in patches but were repeatedly exposed as the Lions struck again, Van Wyk grabbing his second to make it 19-0 inside 20 minutes.

Glasgow stuck bravely to a ball-in-hand approach and eventually found reward when Dan Lancaster sliced through to score and convert, briefly reducing the damage.

Any momentum was snuffed out before the break, though, as the Lions’ breakdown pressure paid dividends and SJ Kotze powered over for the bonus-point try.

The second half followed a similar pattern. Ruan Venter crashed over from close range to extend the lead before Stafford McDowall responded for Glasgow after sustained pressure. That proved little more than a footnote as fatigue set in for the Scots.

The Lions cut loose late on, with Morne van den Berg, Mahashe and Quan Horn all striking as Glasgow’s defensive resistance collapsed.

It was a chastening afternoon for the Franco Smith’s Warriors, who now face Stormers next weekend in Cape Town.

Fidelity SecureDrive Lions: Quan Horn, Angelo Davids, Henco van Wyk, Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje, Chris Smith, Morne van den Berg, SJ Kotze, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Etienne Oosthuizen, Darrien Landsberg, Siba Mahashe, Ruan Venter, Francke Horn (CAPT)

Replacements: Franco Marais, Eddie Davids, Sebastian Lombard, Reinhard Nothnagel, Batho Hlekani, JC Pretorius, Nico Steyn, Kelly Mpeku

Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay, Kyle Rowe, Huw Jones, Stafford McDowall (CAPT), Fergus Watson, Dan Lancaster, Jack Oliver; Rory Sutherland, Seb Stephen, Fin Richardson, Jare Oguntibeju, Alex Samuel, Euan Ferrie, Sione Vailanu, Jack Dempsey

Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Nathan McBeth, Zander Fagerson, Dylan Cockburn, Ryan Burke, Angus Fraser, Ben Afshar, Sione Tuipulotu