Glasgow march on to semis as Kyle Rowe double dumps Stormers out of URC

Defending champions Glasgow turned the screw in the second half to defeat the Stormers 36-18 and soar into the United Rugby Championship semi-finals.

Warriors led 19-13 at the end of an exhilarating first half in the Scotstoun sunshine and were briefly pegged back to 19-18 by their South African visitors before pulling away to book their spot in the last four.

Franco Smith’s side, who beat Stormers by a 17-point margin at the same stage of last year’s championship, will face the winner of Saturday’s clash between Leinster and Scarlets in next weekend’s semi-final.

Glasgow had only two of their four British and Irish Lions inclusions available in the shape of Sione Tuipulotu and Scott Cummings, with Zander Fagerson and Huw Jones absent through injury.

Stormers started strongly and got the scoreboard ticking over following a sustained spell of pressure with a close-range penalty from stand-off Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the seventh minute.

But the pendulum swung in favour of the hosts when visiting wing Seabelo Senatla was sent to the sin bin in the ninth minute for failing to release in front of his own line.

Glasgow immediately kicked for touch and scored from the resulting lineout. Euan Ferrie received a short throw from Gregor Hiddleston and deftly flicked it into the hands of Rory Darge, who burst over from close range. George Horne converted.

Warriors increased their advantage after a quarter of an hour when Tuipulotu nudged a lovely grubber kick through a gap for Kyle Rowe to surge over on the left. Horne added the extras.

Another Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty got Stormers back on track and they closed to within a point in the 26th minute after Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s high ball dropped kindly for Senatla, who dashed clear. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted.

Warriors swiftly reasserted themselves when Henco Venter, who will leave at the end of the season, scored off the back of a lineout maul in the 28th minute, although Horne was short with his conversion attempt.

The South Africans hit back again early in the second half when Senatla bolted away on the left to finish off an excellent move for his second of the evening, although Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed the opportunity to put his side a point ahead when his conversion drifted wide.

Glasgow reacted impressively to this scare, however, and got themselves some breathing space in the 46th minute as Rowe wriggled brilliantly over the whitewash after team-mate Tom Jordan was halted, with Horne on point with his conversion.

Five minutes later, Horne finished off a swashbuckling attack that started deep inside the Glasgow half, with the scrum-half again adding the extras.

With five-try Glasgow holding all the aces, they opted to take the points in the 56th minute when Horne’s penalty took them 18 points clear, ensuring a smooth closing quarter with no further scoring.