World
‘No Scottish team could’ve pulled it off – but Glasgow did’ – BBC Sport
Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Andy Burke
- Role, BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter
The common consensus was the altitude at the Bulls’ Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria could play a crucial role in this Grand final of the United Rugby Championship, but instead it was the Glasgow Warriors’ courage and desire and utter refusal to be denied victory that really took the breath away.
The full-time whistle sparked emotional scenes as the Glasgow players took in what they had accomplished – a title won by taking the hard road.
Three huge physical battles in the knockout rounds in the space of three weeks – at home to 2022 champions Stormers before a trip to Thomond Park to face defending champions Munster and then going head-to-head with this season’s top-ranked team, the Bulls, in Pretoria.
Back-to-back-to-back? With the same starting XV for all three games? No Scottish team could possibly pull that off. Except this team did.
Wherever your eyes took you as you followed those scenes at the end, all you could see were heroes in charcoal grey strips and captivating storylines.
What about Kyle Steyn? The Scotland winger back in the land of his birth, celebrating with his father Rory on the pitch with tears filling his eyes before lifting the trophy as Glasgow captain.
Or Richie Gray? The big lock left the club in 2012 just as Glasgow were starting to gain some traction. He was impatient for success and missed the glory years of Finn Russell, Leone Nakarawa et al and their championship victory in 2015, but here he was at 34 years of age, back where it all began, playing the rugby of his life and finally getting his hands on silverware with his hometown club.
Duncan Weir was part of that initial Warriors title-winning squad and although he did not make it on to the field at Loftus Versfeld, he has done more than enough this season to justify his status as a double title winner. This club is in his blood and his face at the end said everything you needed to know about what this meant to him.
Glasgow needed their Warriors to go again one last time against a Bulls team that were too good for Benetton in the quarter-finals, too good for Leinster in the semis, and widely expected to be too good for Franco Smith’s men when it came to the big dance. Glasgow were ready for everything coming their way.
Zander Fagerson trucked another 80 minutes of powerful carries, monstrous hits and smashing ruck after ruck after ruck. Is there a prop in the game with a better engine? He and his front-row colleagues made adjustments after the break and even started getting success against the much-vaunted Bulls scrum.
Fraser Brown and Peter Wright, two lads who have amassed a fair amount of front-row knowledge in their time, both said on BBC Radio Scotland in the aftermath that Fagerson is the best tighthead Scotland has ever produced. Now he has a winner’s medal to add credence to those claims.
To win alongside his brother Matt will mean the world to them both, and the younger sibling has developed into a top class back-row of real substance. He plays with an edge and carries the kind of toughness that defines this team. He was exceptional.
Jack Dempsey had a quiet opening half before producing a second 40 of such outrageous power and dynamism that he seemed at times determined to single-handedly drag his team-mates towards the big prize.
Twenty-one carries for 112m and 21 tackles are outrageously good stats, and yet they still do not do justice to the shift the big number eight put in. Dempsey, Fagerson and Rory Darge in the back row proved they are a formidable unit capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone.
‘Bodies everywhere. Tanks emptied. Job done’
It was far from all plain sailing. There were some choppy waters to negotiate in the opening 25 minutes when Glasgow were struggling to find a foothold in the game. At 13-0 down and under enormous pressure, they were staring down the barrel.
Scott Cummings’ try in the final play of the first half was a huge moment and turning round at 13-7, having been on the rack for most of the game up to that point, was a significant victory in itself.
The one-man demolition mob, George Turner, came off the bench and rampaged around the Pretoria turf unleashing the sort of destruction that is his hallmark, coming up with momentum-shifting tackles and marking his final appearance in Warriors colours with a crucial try. He will now set off for Japan and a new adventure with Kobe Steelers as a champion.
Huw Jones finished off the best move of the match and suddenly it was on, Glasgow were on their way, but for the second week running they found themselves in Andrea Piardi’s bad books, though unlike at Thomond Park, they were unable to charm the referee back onside.
In a game where the Warriors dominated most of the post-match statistics, the final penalty count showed they had conceded 17 to the Bulls’ 10.
Dempsey had a brilliant try that would have settled the contest ruled out and it looked like the visitors were going to be whistled out of it in those closing stages. Some of the decisions were sound, a few slightly more questionable.
Tom Jordan went to the bin for a high shot – a rare black mark against a player who has been superb at the business end of the season – and the Warriors were down to 14 men for their final stand in the dying minutes.
They heroically repelled a rolling lineout maul near their own line, only for the referee to deem they had done so illegally. It looked a harsh call, but they were undeterred. They simply reset and gathered themselves for one final effort.
When Glasgow held up a second crack at their line from a Bulls maul with the clock in the red, there was nothing left to do except blow the whistle and spark those scenes of ecstasy amongst the Scottish side. Bodies everywhere. Tanks emptied. Job done.
The tough road to the final, the travel demands, the altitude, the officials and the Bulls – none of them were going to deny Glasgow Warriors this moment they had waited nine long years for.
It has been a campaign of sustained excellence, overseen by an outstanding coach at precisely the right club at precisely the right time.
Smith said before the final that attack gets you to finals but it is defence that wins them, and so it proved.
His men struck when they needed to strike, defended for their lives and dragged themselves over the line. The Warrior spirit.
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