Glasgow Warriors produced a pitiful performance as they suffered a resounding 54-12 defeat to the Lions at Ellis Park.
Although there were several mitigating factors, it was miles from the performance levels that Warriors fans have become accustomed to under Franco Smith. Glasgow were utterly dominated at the breakdown in the first half, missed far too many tackles and there was a distinct lack of cohesion through the makeshift team.
The only silver lining from a defeat that will hurt is that the Stormers, their main rivals for top spot in the URC, suffered a surprise loss to Connacht.
There’s no point sugarcoating it, the opening 11 minutes in Johannesburg were an absolute disaster. After Alex Samuel conceded a penalty, the Lions worked through the phases and Henco van Wyk sliced through Stafford McDowall and Josh McKay far too easily to score on six minutes with Chris Smith adding the extras.
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The hosts added their second just five minutes later when Erich Cronje crossed in the corner with Smith’s conversion hitting the post to leave the scored 12-0.
It didn’t get any better for Franco Smith’s men as they made an abundance of errors in a truly atrocious start to the game with the Lions adding their third try on 18 minutes when Van Wyk crossed for this second - Smith added the extras to make it 19-0.
Glasgow offered almost nothing as an attacking threat during the opening half-hour - although Sione Vailanu was a rare bright spark - but they scored their first try on 31 minutes.
Kyle Rowe made an impressive line-break before Stafford McDowall’s delayed pass released Lancaster to score with the fly-half slotting the conversion to make it 19-7.
That offered Glasgow some hope but it was effectively extinguished on the stroke when the Lions scored their fourth try to secure the bonus-point. Seb Stephen was penalised for holding on, the Lions kicked to the scoring and SJ Kotze breezed through the Glasgow defence far too easily with Smith making it 26-7 at the break.
A major factor for Glasgow’s terrible opening 40 minutes was running isolated into contact but Lancaster decided to do just that again three minutes in the second half. He conceded a penalty, the Lions kicked to the corner and Ruan Venter sailed through the Warriors defence for the Lions’ fifth try.
It could have turned into a rout at that stage but the introduction of Zander Fagerson and Gregor Hiddleston helped Glasgow and Stafford McDowall scored their second try two minutes before the hour mark, but Lancaster missed an easy conversion to make it 33-12.
Glasgow entered the fixture with the best defensive record in the league but their rearguard action was uncharacteristically awful throughout. The Lions added three more tries to register eight in total, which is completely unacceptable for a Glasgow perspective.
The ease in which the Lions ran home from distance for their final two tries was galling with the typically reliable Josh McKay falling off two tackles as the Warriors suffered a heavy loss. Here's five major talking points.
Nightmare start
Smith would’ve wanted a reaction from his players after the hugely disappointing Champions Cup exit to Toulon last weekend but it was the complete opposite.
It’s imperative to stress how difficult the conditions are in altitude and that can be partially an excuse but Glasgow were miles from the required standard. It truly was the nightmare start as they conceded twice in 11 minutes and another followed before the 20-mark and that was realistically the game over.
Bruising breakdown
Glasgow were completely obliterated at the breakdown at the first-half. It was alarming how much the Lions dominated and bulldozed the Warriors back. The South Africans' physicality was far superior but Glasgow were also guilty of creating their own problems.
Far too often they ran isolated into contact with support runners not backing up and they conceded an unacceptable nine penalties in the first-half. Naturally, Glasgow will probably feel aggrieved by some of the decisions at the breakdown but that can’t be an excuse.
Inexperience crucial
Glasgow’s squad was not only inexperienced in terms of age but they were missing so many important players.
Jack Dempsey was the only forward who’d feature in the Warriors’ strongest team and that drop off truly showed. Some of the decision making was beyond questionable and the combinations looked exactly like they’d never played together.
Running into contact in isolation, poor box kicking and dropping off tackles were all characteristics of a terrible first-half. Oliver’s poor kick and Lancaster’s daft decision to run isolated to concede a penalty showed that lessons hadn’t been learned and it led to the Lions’ fifth try.
A sign of things to come
This was perhaps a worrying glimpse of what could lie ahead for Glasgow next season. Smith has transformed the club since his arrival and the Warriors have been one of the best sides in the URC across recent seasons but a crossroads is approaching this summer.
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Glasgow are losing so many experienced internationals this summer and they need replacing, but they’ve not been yet.
It’s all well and good hyping up youngsters signing professional contracts and it’s admirable to focus on the future.
But experienced, quality additions are needed - especially at fly-half - or Glasgow’s future may not be too bright. This was a reality check.
Silver lining
It was a dreadful Saturday for Warriors supporters but the silver lining was the Stormers losing to Connacht.
That could be a massive result in the final seedings and it gives Glasgow some breathing room at the top of the table ahead of a monumental clash next week.
The Warriors simply can’t afford to lose without picking up any bonus points as they’ll be replaced at the top of the table and they need to try to secure home advantage in the play-offs.
Lions: Quan Horn, Angelo Davids, Henco van Wyk (Mpeku 65), Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje, Chris Smith, Morne van den Berg (Steyn 72), SJ Kotze (Davids 56), PJ Botha (Marais 56), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lombard 56), Etienne Oosthuizen (Nothnagel 56), Darrien Landsberg (Nothnagel 56), Siba Mahashe, Ruan Venter, Francke Horn (captain) (Pretorius 68)
Tries: van Wyk (6,19), Cronje (10), Kotze (40), Venter (44), van den Berg (68), Mahashe (72), Horn (75)
Conversions: Smith (7, 19, 40, 69, 73, 76), Venter (45)
Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay, Kyle Rowe, Huw Jones, Stafford McDowall (captain), Fergus Watson (Tuipulotu 72), Dan Lancaster, Jack Oliver (Afshar 49); Rory Sutherland (McBeth 49), Seb Stephen (Hiddleston 49), Fin Richardson (Fagerson 49), Jare Oguntibeju (Burke 55), Alex Samuel, Euan Ferrie, Sione Vailanu (Cockburn 65), Jack Dempsey (Fraser 55)
Tries: Lancaster (31), McDowall (58)
Conversion: Lancaster (32)
Referee: Peter Martin (IRFU)
Player of the Match: Henco van Wyk
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