Glasgow Warriors 31 Cardiff Blues 3
Friday 30 March 7.30pm kick off
A late change for the Blues saw Maama Molitika start at number eight, with Macauley Cook going to blindside, after Xavier Rush didn’t travel to Scotland following the birth of his baby boy in the early hours of Friday morning.
It was a scrappy opening to the game, with both sides executing kicks badly and basic handling errors in open play leading to a number of scrums. There were also several forward passes when it looked as if the attack had broken the defence, only to be called back by the referee George Clancy.
Glasgow seemed to have the better of the opening chances but winger Colin Shaw failed to hold onto a pass with nobody in front of him inside the Blues twenty two. However, again Glasgow attacked and this time Ryan Wilson crashed over under the posts and Weir converted.
It was Glasgow who now had the ascendancy and some nice play saw them work their way into the Blues twenty two where Weir extended the lead with a penalty. The Blues did have half a chance after Laulala did a trademark break, but Roberts failed to hold on to the offload inside the Glasgow twenty two and the Scotsmen cleared.
Half time Glasgow Warriors 10 Cardiff Blues 0
Glasgow came out of the blocks quickest in the second half with Kellock coming close to crossing the line. He was held short but Glasgow recycled and Wilson picked up to score his second, not only of the match, but of his Glasgow career. Weir again added the extras.
It was a frustrating evening for the Blues where they failed to build any momentum to their play. They did, however, manage to get some points on the board in the 50th minute when Halfpenny slotted a 45metre penalty.
The Blues had a chance to attack when they went for a lineout five metres out. However, the ball was overthrown and Glasgow cleared, which seemed to sum up the Blues play in the match.
Glasgow got their third try just passed the hour mark. Alex Dunbar made a break through the Blues midfield and offloaded to Chris Fusaro touch down. Rory Jackson added the simple conversion.
Glasgow sealed the bonus point in the 76minute when Cusiter went on a break down the left and offloaded out of Halfpenny’s tackle for Colin Shaw to run in under the posts. Jackson converted and Glasgow had got their second bonus point win over the Blues in a season.
Cardiff Blues Cardiff Blues 15. Leigh Halfpenny 14. Alex Cuthbert (65off) 13. Casey Laulala 12. Jamie Roberts (52off) 11. Tom James 10. Ceri Sweeney 9. Lloyd Williams (60off)
8. Maama Molitika 7. Josh Navidi 6. Macauley Cook 5. James Down 4. Bradley Davies (c) 3. Scott Andrews 2. Ryan Tyrrell (60off) 1. John Yapp (67off)
16. Marc Breeze (60on) 17. Nathan Trevett (67on) 18. Sam Hobbs 19. Cory Hill 20. Kristian Dacey 21. Richie Rees (60on) 22. Gavin Henson (65on) 23. Dafydd Hewitt (52on)
Glasgow Warriors 15 Stuart Hogg 14 Federico Aramburu 13 Alex Dunbar 12 Graeme Morrison 11 Tommy Seymour 10 Duncan Weir 9 Chris Cusiter
1 Ryan Grant 2 Dougie Hall 3 Mike Cusack 4 Tom Ryder 5 Al Kellock (C)
6 Rob Harley 7 Chris Fusaro 8 Ryan Wilson
16 Pat MacArthur 17 Jon Welsh 18 Moray Low 19 Richie Gray 20 John Barclay 21 Henry Pyrgos 22 Ruaridh Jackson 23 Peter Murchie
Cardiff Blues
Tries
Pen Halfpenny x 1
Con
D/G
Glasgow Warriors
Tries Wilson x 2 Shaw x 1 Fusaro x 1
Pen Weir x 1
Con Weir x 2 Jackson x 1
D/G
Yellow Card:
Attendance: 4,224