Weir boots Warriors to glory
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:51
Young replacement Duncan Weir kicked his first Magners League points as his late penalty and drop-goal saw Glasgow Warriors complete a stirring second-half comeback against Leinster - the home side winning 22-19.
Leinster began brightly and were rewarded for their early dominance with a sweetly-struck Fergus McFadden penalty in the second minute. Glasgow levelled the scores through Ruaridh Jackson two minutes later with a penalty, but the visitors were in the ascendency.
Separate bursts by Eoin O'Malley, skipper Sean O'Brien and the impressive Dominic Ryan threatened to unlock the Warriors' defence and good work by Ireland star Jamie Heaslip at the base of a ruck pushed Leinster ahead when an infringement led to McFadden's second successful kick of the evening after 14 minutes.
Ryan crossed the whitewash on 19 minutes but he was adjudged to have taken the pass in a forward position and though Jackson responded with a difficult penalty four minutes later, soon Ryan would get his name on the scoresheet.
A Heaslip break from the back of the lineout found space in Glasgow territory and the supporting Ryan was on hand to out-pace his opposite number Ryan Wilson to touch down for his first try for the province.
Glasgow responded immediately with a spell of pressure, but Leinster's rearguard remained steadfast and in the 35th minute debutant Isaac Boss scored his side's second try of the evening when a kick ahead caused panic in the Glasgow backline.
A spilled take on the Warriors line fell into the path of Boss who instinctively pounced on the opportunity to make it 16-6, a lead they held into the break.
Jackson had a chance to reduce Leinster's lead in the 50th minute but his penalty fell wide.
However, he made amends three minutes later to reduce Leinster's advantage to seven points and Glasgow wing DTH van der Merwe crossed for the home side's first try on 65 minutes after a spell of pressure - converted from the touchline by sub Duncan Weir.
With the scores level the game could have gone in either direction.
Weir's drop-goal on 71 minutes was cancelled out by Nacewa's superb penalty before a 77th minute Weir penalty sealed the win as Leinster pressed in the closing stages. For the visitors it was too little, too late.
A disappointed Leinster coach Joe Schmidt said afterwards on leinsterrugby.ie: "It was certainly a game that got away from us after half-time.
"We're really disappointed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and it was a case of us making errors which enabled them to keep the pressure on (in the second half)."
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Tries: Van der Merwe
Con: Weir
Pens: Jackson 3, Weir
DG: Weir
For Leinster:
Tries: Boss, Ryan
Pens:
Nacewa, McFadden 2
The teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Bernardo Stortoni (captain), 14 DTH van der Merwe, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Federico Aramburu, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Richie Vernon, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Moray Low, 2 Fergus Thomson, 1 Jon Welsh.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Ed Kalman, 18 Ryan Grant, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Rob Harley, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Hefin O'Hare, 23 Peter Murchie.
Leinster: 15 Luke Fitzgerald, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Niall Morris, 10 Isa Nacewa, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien (captain), 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Ed O'Donoghue, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Simon Shawe, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 John Fogarty, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Ben Prescott, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Stephen Keogh, 21 Paul O'Donohoe, 22 Ian Madigan,
23 Eamonn Sheridan.
Referee: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Assistant referees: Andy Macpherson (Scotland), Graeme Marshall (Scotland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Advertising
