Glasgow Warriors 5-53 Bath

An industrious early start from the men in black saw Glasgow enjoy the lion’s share of possession and territory in the opening exchanges, Matthew Urwin pulling the strings under the Friday night lights. Bayley Kuenzle was enjoying introducing himself to the Warrior Nation too, the Australian prominent with ball in hand early on.

Against the run of play, however, it was the visitors who struck first. An end-to-end passage of play eventually saw Santiago Carreras produce a moment of individual brilliance, regathering his own chip ahead to run in for the score from halfway. Finn Russell’s conversion drifted wide, leaving the score at 5-0 to Bath.

Undeterred, the home side went straight back on the attack, Fergus Watson and Guy Rogers looking lively whenever presented with an opportunity and Callum Reidy providing sharp service from the breakdown. Bath’s defence continued to stand tall though, the visitors showing their mettle in front of just over 2,000 spectators.

The visitors made their second visit to the Glasgow 22 count as much as their first, striking for their second try as the opening quarter drew to a close. Repeated phases of possession close to the try-line eventually allowed Joe Cokanasiga to make the most of an overlap and dive over, the conversion again astray from the touchline.

Bath were now looking to capitalise on a purple patch of their own, but found themselves denied by the young Warriors’ tenacity in defence. Urwin and Watson produced one excellent defensive combination to deny Carreras a second try out wide, much to the delight of the Old Anniesland crowd.

A third try arrived just before the half-hour mark, however; the physicality of the Bath pack was proving the difference at the scrum, and from a penalty kicked to the corner the visitors looked to rumble their way over. Whilst the pack was denied by their Glasgow counterparts, Bernard van der Linde sniped over from close range despite the efforts of Kuenzle, giving his side a 15-0 advantage.

One final score was to follow before the interval, arriving with the last play of an evenly-contested opening stanza. Scrappy ball saw Russell get his hands free and offload to Ollie Lawrence, the centre just about having enough pace and power to dive over. Russell converted, leaving the scoreline reading 22-0 as the whistle sounded.

Bath added a fifth try just moments after the restart, albeit courtesy of an element of good fortune. Cokanasiga’s fumble of a cross-kick went straight into the hands of Cam Redpath, who somehow managed to get the ball down in the corner under a pile of bodies. The conversion was well off target, but Bath led 27-0.

Fortune played a hand in the next score of the evening too, as a high ball was batted back into the hands of Miles Reid out wide. The experienced flanker drew the last man to send van der Linde over in the corner, extending the visitors’ lead to 32-0 with just under half an hour to play.

Still the Warriors looked to attack from deep, the replacements making an impact once more upon their introduction to proceedings. Kerr Yule’s carrying power almost set up a score for Jack Oliver, Bath scrambling well to deny the scrum-half.

With replacements on both sides entering the fray, a stop-start second half had to wait until 15 minutes remaining for the next score, as Redpath picked off a pass in midfield to race over for the score. Ciaran Donohue converted, and Bath had a 39-0 lead.

The young Warriors weren’t to be denied a late score, though, despite Bath adding to their tally once more. In the end, consistent pressure in the Bath 22 yielded a centre-field scrum, from which Yule’s inch-perfect miss pass found Alex Bryden out wide. The Scotland U20 standout pinned his ears back to dive over in the corner, giving the Warrior Nation something to cheer as the clock ticked down.

A final Bath try gave the scoreline a late gloss, as the Warriors closed out their pre-season preparations just as the heavens opened. Attentions now turn to next weekend and the return of the BKT United Rugby Championship, with Thomond Park the venue for a mouthwatering clash with Munster on opening weekend.