Glasgow Warriors player ratings vs Toulon | Investec Champions Cup

Glasgow Warriors player ratings: Glasgow’s late comeback came up just a point short at the Stade Mayol.

Trailing by a point at half-time, the Warriors never quite got in front but nor were they ever out of the fight.

Scoring four tries, the last of which came from Johnny Matthews with less than a minute to play, the Warriors secured two losing bonus points.

The performances itself proved unequivocally that Franco Smith’s men are one of the teams to beat this season.

Here is how the Warriors fared this afternoon.

1. Jamie Bhatti – 7
Fronted up to the challenge of facing Kyle Sinckler with a strong performance at scrum time. Around the park, he was his usual busy self, smashing rucks, carrying hard and making a few good shots in defence.

2. Gregor Hiddleston – 7.5
Firmly at the coal face of this one, the hooker was immense as his side weathered a few promising Toulon attacks. Completing 11 tackles whilst constantly pressuring Baptiste Serin at the breakdown, the 22-year-old looks more than capable of competing at the top level.

3. Sam Talakai – 6.5
More than held his own against the intimidating presence of Dany Priso. Yellow card aside, the one-time capped Wallaby put in a good shift with 6 tackles and 3 carries before departing in the 51st minute.

4. Olujare Oguntibeju – 8.5
More renowned for his roaming attacking style, the South African raised lock knuckled down and clattered into Toulon’s black wall. Battering his way over for a timely score just as things looked to be slipping away from the visitors, the Scotland ‘A’ representative was a prototypical enforcer this afternoon.

5. Alex Samuel – 6
Departing late in the first half, having put in a serious shift, the 21-year-old was enjoying a ‘coming of age’ performance in a hostile environment.

6. Henco Venter – 7.5
An old school ‘hard man’ performance from the South African who took it to the physical home pack. Mixing in some deft touches, notably for McKay’s try, Venter had a vintage outing at the Stade Mayol.

7. Rory Darge – 6.5
Departing battered and bruised, Glasgow’s test match animal in the backrow was front and centre to their impressive first half. Completing 8 tackles, 5 carries and winning a turnover his departure took an edge off the Warriors pack.

8. Jack Mann – 8
Glasgow’s go-to carrier, Mann, capitalised on his rare start as he topped the carries charts for the visitors with 14. Defensively, he put in several momentum-stunting tackles, with three of his seven tackles being classed as dominant.

9. Ben Afshar – 6
Solid is perhaps the best way to sum up the scrumhalf’s outing. Lacking the zip around the breakdown of George Horne, Afshar distributed well in the face of relentless onslaught from Toulon at the breakdown.

10. Duncan Weir – 6.5
Entering what feels like his 20th year in professional rugby, the Warriors’ veteran directed play well for the opening 61 minutes. Kicking a penalty and conversion to keep the scoreboard ticking over, Weir’s best work was done with his distribution. Lacking Tom Jordan’s running threat, Weir put his teammates in good spots by mixing up a short/medium kicking game with clever passes.

11. Kyle Rowe – 7.5
Never one to die wondering, Rowe delivered a stand-out performance that likely rivals his employee of the month award when working at the Amazon depot. Although he didn’t win every aerial contest, he did enough to disrupt Toulon’s flow in this department.

12. Sione Tuipulotu – 8
Capitalising on his threat as a gainline wrecker, the Scottish captain posed several questions to the Toulon defence. When he didn’t carry himself, he pulled the ball back beautifully for his support runner.

13. Stafford McDowall – 7
Often the third wheel in Scotland’s centre debate with the ‘Huwipulotu’ combination being amongst the best in the world. This evening’s performance was a reminder that the rangy centre is a special talent in his own right

14. Jamie Dobie – 7.5
Scotland Rugby’s ‘jack in the box’ was at his edgy best on the fast Stade Mayol turf. Flustering the hosts with his relentless pressure on the kick chase, he caught Baptiste Serin cold in the build-up to the Warriors’ penalty try.

15. Josh McKay – 8
Silky smooth as ever, Glasgow’s flowing mullet scored a superb try to get his side on top in the first half. Closing his account with 41 meters from 10 carries and 4 defenders beaten, the former All Blacks U20 representative had the local fans out of their seats all afternoon.

Substitutes
16. Johnny Matthews – 8
Glasgow’s try-scoring machine set up the grandstand finish with a trademark carry close to the line. Burrowing under the Toulon defence and placing the ball perfectly showed why he has been one of the URC’s most prolific try scorers over the past three years.

17. Rory Sutherland – 7
Getting on the ball for some dynamic carries, the British and Irish Lion was built for days like today. Securing a 100% win rate on his own ball with Fagerson, the veteran brought calm in a hostile environment.

18. Zander Fagerson – 8
Locking down a strong scrum was one thing but Fagerson’s willingness to get on the ball in attack made a huge impact late on in the match.

19. Scott Cummings – 7
Replacing Samuel relatively early, Cummings didn’t miss a beat as he trucked around the park, smashing into rucks and putting in a strong shift at line-out time.

20. Matt Fagerson – 6
Taking over from Darge early in the second half, Fagerson assumed the mantle of ‘breakdown menace’. Although he won just a single turnover, he was ever present and muddied the waters which limited Baptiste Serin’s ability to dictate the tempo.

21. Angus Fraser – 5
They came on for the final five minutes and played a role in Matthews’s try by clearing bodies at the ruck. Overall, his limited time meant he couldn’t quite have as much impact as he would’ve hoped.

22. George Horne – 6
Upping the ante around the breakdown, Horne painted a different picture for the Toulon defence. Like Afshar before him, he had to contend with an absolute mess at the breakdown, which he did well.

23. Tom Jordan – 7.5
Mirroring his halfback partner, Jordan brought the impact that Franco Smith would’ve hoped. Offering a carrying threat that was previously lacking, Jordan put the Toulon defence on their heels at times.