Red-hot Scarlets beat Glasgow to reach Pro14 Final
Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies and Rob Evans all went over in a quite magical first half for Wayne Pivac’s men who caught fire in the sunshine at Scotstoun.
Dave Rennie and the Warriors – the pacesetters all year long in the regular season – were largely powerless to prevent the Welsh region’s all-court game as they picked the worst time to slip to their first home defeat of the campaign.
Ken Owens also went over at the back of rolling maul at the start of the second half as Scarlets demonstrated their grunt up front to go with their silky smooth offloading.
Jonny Gray pulled one back for the Warriors after the hour mark and Nick Grigg also went over to hint at a comeback but the Scarlets were not to be denied.
They will now await the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal between Leinster and Munster as they look to make it back-to-back crowns at the Aviva Stadium next weekend.
The Warriors’ hopes were hit by Stuart Hogg pulling out through illness in the warm-up and it was the Scarlets who started fastest.
The attacking rugby that carried all before them last season was to the fore and first to go over was Patchell.
The visitors turned down a kickable penalty to go to the corner and although the Warriors repelled the maul, when the ball came left Patchell had too much pace and got outside Grigg for the score.
John Barclay limped off inside the first ten minutes for Pivac’s men but they didn’t miss a beat, although Finn Russell – in his final game for the Warriors – did pull a penalty back for the hosts.
But that was as good as it got in the first half for a Warriors side that limped into the semifinals with only one win in their last four.
The Scarlets meanwhile, were rampant and scrumhalf Davies claimed the second try of the night, running a fantastic support line to go under the posts after Scott Williams’ initial break.
Patchell added the extras and the Welsh region continued to purr, Johnny McNicholl back in for the injured Leigh Halfpenny, making a break and combining with Steff Evans to release his namesake Rob to coast over.
The Scarlets win over Leinster in last year’s semifinal was the only time in Pro14 history that the away side had claimed victory in the final four.
But they ensured that lightning struck twice soon after the break when skipper Owens turned down another kickable penalty and then emerged as the try scorer at the back of a rolling maul.
Grigg also saw yellow for the home side who at least salvaged some pride in the final quarter when Gray barged his way over.
The TMO then denied Gray a second after some quick thinking as the Warriors left it a little too late to finally get rolling.
Grigg did grab another late on but Peter Horne’s conversion came back off the posts and with a 15-point deficit, the game was up for the hosts.
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Tries: Gray, Grigg
Pen: Russell
For Scarlets:
Tries: Patchell, G Davies, R Evans, Owens
Cons: Patchell 4
Yellow card: Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors, 46 – cynical play)
Teams:
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 George Horne, 8 Ryan Wilson (captain), 7 Callum Gibbins, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Ruaridh Jackson.
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 John Barclay 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (captain), 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Steff Hughes.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO: Ollie Hodges (Ireland)
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