Glasgow topple URC champs Stormers in ding-dong Scotstoun battle
A sensational 78th-minute try from Sebastian Cancelliere secured a dramatic bonus-point 24-17 win for Glasgow Warriors in an exhilarating ding-dong battle with the Stormers at Scotstoun.
The Argentinean winger raced onto Sione Tuipulotu’s inch-perfect diagonal kick for the all-important score, which extends Warriors winning streak to six consecutive games in all competitions.
This was their biggest scalp so far against last season’s URC champions, who currently sit second in the table.
During an action-packed first half, Warriors drew first blood when Huw Jones hit a brilliant line and then sent Cancelliere over.
But the hosts then found themselves a man down for 10 minutes when Lewis Bean was sent to the sin-bin for obstruction.
Stormers capitalised almost immediately when hooker Joseph Dweba rolled off the back of a line-out maul and powered over the line.
Manie Libbock nailed the tricky conversion to give the visitors a two-point lead.
The home team were clearly in no mood to batten down the hatches whilst reduced to 14 men, and they scored another well-worked try.
Jack Dempsey’s powerful burst got the ball rolling before slick hands from Sione Tuipulotu and Ollie Smith sent skipper Kyle Steyn over.
Momentum then swung back Stormers’ way and after several minutes of pressure they regained the lead when scrum-half Paul de Wet sent full-back Clayton Blommetjies over.
Jones – playing his first game at Scotstoun in two years after a spell playing down in England – was clearly in the mood to put on a show against the team which gave him his break in professional rugby.
Glasgow Warriors gives Stormers a taste of their own medicine ??#GLAvSTO | Credit: @URCOfficial pic.twitter.com/fnH5kxL4kS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 8, 2023
After getting assists for the first two tries, he got himself on the score sheet 10 minutes into the second half, when he skipped inside three Stormers tacklers and zipped over the line.
George Horne nailed the conversion and that proved crucial because when Stormers scored next through Junior Pokomela, and Libbock missed the conversion, it left the scores tied going into the final 10 minutes.
Libbock missed a long-range penalty attempt which would have given his team the scoreboard edge they needed, then Cancelliere had the final say of a pulsating contest.
England fan .., but the international element of the URC makes it so compelling. When the RSA teams play the Irish or Welsh or Scots … it’s grippy!!