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NZ flyer off the mark as Glasgow earn big win over Ospreys
By PA
Josh McKay scored his first Glasgow try as Warriors earned a bonus point against the Ospreys with a dominant second-half display.
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Sione Tuipulotu grabbed two tries and Cole Forbes also crossed as Warriors secured a 38-19 victory over their visitors at Scotstoun.
Dan Evans got the Ospreys’ only try late on, but Warriors co-captain Fraser Brown immediately marked his return from injury by going over.
The Ospreys started well and twice went ahead during an early exchange of penalties, but they were caught out in the 21st minute after Sam Johnson initially broke the line.
The Welsh side stopped Zander Fagerson and Jamie Bhatti almost on the line, but Glasgow worked the ball out for Forbes to go through Mat Protheroe’s tackle and over the line.
Tuipulotu soon got his first try of the evening after a Warriors scrum inside their own half. The Australia-born Scotland international collected the ball after some short, sharp passes and burst through two challenges before sprinting for home.
Four Gareth Anscombe penalties kept Glasgow’s half-time lead to five points, but the home side pinned the Ospreys back after the interval before McKay stepped inside his man and burst through to score in the 47th minute.
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Warriors brought on Tonga international Walter Fifita for his debut and remained on top.
The bonus point was sealed just after the hour mark when Tuipulotu wriggled out of an Anscombe tackle and was soon clear and away from the chasing Ospreys.
The Ospreys finally made some attacking inroads in the second half. Matthew Aubrey charged down Ross Thompson’s kick, but Kyle Steyn caught him with a last-ditch tackle.
Step, step, TRY… Josh McKay ? #URC | #GLAOSP @GlasgowWarriors pic.twitter.com/gUErXzvq6I
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) January 8, 2022
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The visitors did get their score in the 70th minute when Evans went over after good footwork from Anscombe.
But Brown made his mark two minutes later in his first appearance since suffering a knee injury in October. The hooker took the ball from the back of a maul on the right flank and forced himself over.
Duncan Weir followed up Thompson’s perfect conversion record with an excellent kick to finish off the scoring.
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Hamish I think in Rugby the international game is king and will always be the case. However I think in NZ we don't have the balance right. As you say the total focus has been on the All Blacks and not enough attention has been put on Super Rugby and how to enhance that. They have seen it as a high performance tool to service the AB's and have not valued it as a competition in it's own right. However I think the current board have a different view and moving in the right direction. Having created an independent board to look solely after the competition is definitely a step in the right direction. I see the growing of the Super comp as the number one priority for NZ and Aus.
Go to commentsLike Benjie, completely mismanaged. If hed gone to the Chiefs or Saders theyd have had him on the wing or FB and hed have succeeded. If SBW had started with the Blues hed have failed too.
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