Five things we learned as Glasgow earn hard-fought win over Sharks

Glasgow were putting plenty of pressure on in the opening 10 minutes but the visitors were defending strongly, although they were conceding penalties.

And eventually Glasgow found a way through and it was George Horne who touched down underneath the posts before converting his own score.

It wasn’t a match that would get too many neutrals excited but a big mistake from Sharks captain Francois Venter allowed Stafford McDowall to take his team right up the pitch only for Murray Koster to stop the try.

The whole play summed up the first half were there was slight moments of excitement but not a huge amount of quality on show, although Glasgow did get their second of the night soon after.

Max Williamson scored his first try for the club the last time Glasgow were playing at Scotstoun and he was able to take advantage of a pocket of space to get himself over the line to give his side a 14-0 lead after 30 minutes.

Sharks had some dominance towards the end of the first half and they were chasing tries, particularly after Scott Cummings was sent to the bin for repeated offside offences and they took advantage of it almost immediately when Dan Jooste managed to touch down.

That wasn’t the end of the first half scoring though and a quick tap penalty from Horne allowed him to throw it to Sione Tuipulotu, who then found Kyle Steyn and the Warriors captain finished off to extend the lead at the break.

Ntuthuko Mchunu got on the scoresheet for the visitors, much to the anger of the home support who felt the ball had gone forward in the build-up.

That was the end of the scoring on the night as the two sides played out a fairly disappointing ending to the game. 

Williamson puts hand up for Scotland again

The lock is having an excellent season in the second row for Glasgow Warriors and he continued it again against Sharks.

He’s been excellent in the tackle all year but he’s now a threat in attack too and got his second try in as many Scotstoun games when he finished off in the first half.

Gregor Townsend is likely to name a bit more of a developmental squad for the trip to the Americas and with Williamson already training with the national team during the Six Nations, it would make sense to introduce him over the course of the tour.

Matthews adds to injury worries

Johnny Matthews had to be helped off the pitch in the second half and it must have been concerning for Smith to see that. George Turner is already on the sidelines and in a race to be fit for the playoffs while Fraser Brown is out long term. If Matthews injury is as bad it looked on the night, then they will be left with the inexperienced pair of Gregor Hiddleston and Angus Fraser to cover the hooker position.

Hiddleston has just six appearances while Fraser has made 11 for the club and with so many big games coming on, that might not be a great amount of experience for them.

700 not out for Glasgow

This was Glasgow Warriors’ 700th game of the professional era and the brand of rugby Smith has them playing now is as good as any in that time. The Scotstoun side have always been known for trying to make sure they had ball in hand and excite fans and they deliver the majority of the time on that promise.

It might not have been a vintage performance on the night but they still impressed enough to get the victory but there was certainly a win off the pitch as they showed their charitable side by raising £41,900 as part of their plaster it purple campaign.

Bonus point frustration

Glasgow will have targeted five points from this game but they could only manage three tries on the night and were unable to get bonus they would have wanted.

It shouldn’t have too much of an impact on their hopes of a home quarter final and you’d still expect them to finish in the top four but with a trip to South Africa for two games to come, they would have wanted as many points on the board as they could before that.

Smith’s team are known for their exciting rugby but they weren’t quite at the level they normally show on the night.

Sharks show up despite weakened squad

Smith was clear in his views that it wasn’t disrespectful of Sharks to make 15 changes to their team to save their big players for the Challenge Cup. He warned that they would still be dangerous to Glasgow and although they never really threatened to cause an upset on the night, they were still impressive given players such as Eben Eztebeth had been left at home. They weren't at the level they showed against Edinburgh but their reserves definitely have something to add.

Glasgow Warriors:  Kyle Rowe, Kyle Steyn (captain), Stafford McDowall, Sione Tuipulotu, Facundo Cordero, Tom Jordan (Ross Thompson, 59),  George Horne (Jamie Dobie, 74), Nathan McBeth (Oli Kebble 55), Johnny Matthews (Gregor Hiddleston, 51), Zander Fagerson (Lucio Sordoni, 55), Max Williamson (Sintu Manjezi, 65), Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson (Ally Miller, 72), Henco Venter, Jack Dempsey (Tom Gordon, 55)

Tries: Horne (11), Williamson (30), Steyn (40)

Conversions: Horne (11, 30, 40)

Sharks:  Boeta Chamberlain, Eduan Keyter, Murray Koster (Ethan Hooker, 54), Francois Venter (captain), Aphiwe Dyantyi, Curwin Bosch (Siya Masuku, 47), Grant Williams (Cameron Wright, 69), Nick Hatton, Lappies Labuschagne (Vincent Tshituka, 51), Tino Mavesere, Gebrandt Grobler, Corne Rahl (Emile van Heerden, 63), Hanro Jacobs (Vincent Koch, 54), Dan Jooste (Fez Mbatha, 40), Ntuthuko Mchunu (Khwezi Mona, 54).

Tries: Jooste (37), Mchunu (52)

Referee: Federico Vedovellli

Attendance: 7216