MATCH REPORT | Glasgow Warriors 28-3 Saracens Men
Saracens Men ended the pool stages of the Investec Champions Cup in defeat as they were beaten 28-3 by Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium.
The Original Club of North London did enough to qualify for the knockout stages thanks to their wins over Clermont Auvergne and Stade Toulousain, but the assignment in Glasgow was unsuccessful as they were defeated by a dominant Glasgow outfit.
Sarries started with positive intent right from the first whistle, Max Malins gathered Fergus Burke’s kick off and almost created a chance but for a knock on from the following phase.
A Glasgow lineout then resulted in Sarries holding up a maul and earning the ball back which was met by raucous cheers from the replacements.
Rotimi Segun almost got on the outside of Kyle Steyn with just six minutes gone as he showed his impressive pace but just as he cut inside the ball fumbled out of his grasp.
Another encouraging sign then followed as Lucio Cinti’s impeccable grubber kick trickled in to touch deep in the Glashow 22 to keep the hosts pinned back.
However, despite the good start it was Glasgow who struck first to take the lead after 10 minutes. Alex Craig broke through a tackle in the midfield and charged in to the 22, before the ball was recycled and eventually Ollie Smith stepped over the line for the first try of the evening. George Horne’s conversion made it 7-0 to the hosts.
To their credit though Sarries hit back five minutes later with a penalty from Owen Farrell to cut the deficit to four. A free kick at scrum time allowed them to go aerial and then they forced a penalty at the breakdown which Farrell made no mistake with to make it 7-3.
Juan Martin Gonzalez was then shown a yellow card for killing the ball right on the try line after Horne had gathered his chip and chase, and it looked like Glasgow would punish the visitors straight away with a lineout just five metres out but some outstanding maul defence with a man down earned an admirable turnover.
The Londoners were relying on their aerial game particulate from Ivan van Zyl to get them in the right areas, but it didn’t bear fruit in the way they wanted as Glasgow would strike again with 30 minutes played.
Front foot ball saw them edge towards the 22, and then a neat piece of interplay released Kyle Steyn who had a clear run to the line under the posts.
It got better for the hosts just a minute later, as Jack Dempsey’s thunderous break saw him enter the Sarries half and he had Horne on the inside who raced away to dot down under the posts as all of a sudden the Warriors had a 21-3 advantage.
Sarries knew they needed something before the break, and it almost arrived with 37 minutes gone as Segun’s brilliant break on the left wing made a two on one and he passed inside to van Zyl but he was dragged down just short of the line.
Elliot Daly then danced deep in to the Glasgow 22 and a neat one-two from Malins and Farrell almost got Sarries over the line, but the hosts managed to steal the ball and smash the ball out to lead 21-3 at half time.
Sarries had plenty of possession in the early stages of the second half as they looked to plot a route back in to the match. A fizzed wide pass from Farrell to Segun almost saw the winger go over in the corner, but a high tackle from Kyle Rowe saw the Warrior sin-binned to help the Saracens cause.
The missed opportunities summed up a frustrating evening for the Londoners though, as a string of lineouts in the 22 ended up in the hands of the Warriors who were being roared on by a raucous home crowd.
The visitors refused to give up and a strong carry from Olly Hartley threatened to get his side in to an encouraging position but Glasgow came away with the ball from the breakdown to clear.
Noah Caluori was sent to the sin-bin for an infringement on the Sarries line, and they were punished in the final play of game as Seb Stephen rumbled over from a maul to add further gloss to the scoreboard.
Dan Lancaster’s conversion was the final act as the Warriors confirmed a deserved victory at Scotstoun.
