ERCC: Pool 4, Round 1- Glasgow Warriors v Bath Rugby

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Glasgow Warriors v Bath Rugby
Pool 4, Round 1
Saturday 18 October
KO: 15:15
Scotstoun Stadium

Live on BT Sport

Referee Jerome Garces (France)
Touch Judge 1 Maxime Chalon (France)
Touch Judge 2 Thomas Charabas (France)
Fourth Official Jean-Marie Piraveau (France)
TMO Jean-Marie Piraveau (France)

Citing Commissioner John Cole (Ireland)

A. Teams:

1. Glasgow Warriors


15 Stuart Hogg
14 Sean Maitland
13 Mark Bennett
12 Peter Horne
11 Tommy Seymour
10 Duncan Weir
9 Henry Pyrgos (capt)

1 Gordon Reid
2 Pat MacArthur
3 Euan Murray
4 Leone Nakarawa
5 Jonny Gray
6 Robert Harley
7 Chris Fusaro
8 Adam Ashe

16 Doug Hall
17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa
18 Rossouw de Klerk
19 Tim Swinson
20 Tyrone Holmes
21 Niko Matawalu
22 Finn Russell
23
DTH van der Merwe

2. Bath Rugby


15. Gavin Henson
14. Semesa Rokoduguni
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Kyle Eastmond
11. Anthony Watson
10. George Ford
9. Micky Young

1. Nick Auterac
2. Ross Batty
3. Henry Thomas
4. Stuart Hooper ( c )
5. Dave Attwood
6. Dominic Day
7. Guy Mercer
8. David Sisi

16. Rob Webber
17. Paul James
18. David Wilson
19. Charlie Ewels
20. Tom Ellis
21. Peter Stringer
22. Ollie Devoto
23. Horacio Agulla

B. Current Form

1. Glasgow Warriors

20/9/14 - Newport Gwent Dragons 13 - 33 Glasgow Warriors

26/9/14 - Glasgow Warriors 39 - 21 Connacht Rugby

5/10/14 - Benetton Treviso 23 - 40 Glasgow Warriors

11/10/14 - Ulster Rugby 29 - 9 Glasgow Warriors

2. Bath Rugby

13/9/14 - Bath Rugby 53 - 26 London Welsh

20/9/14 - Bath Rugby 45 - 0 Leicester Tigers

27/9/14 - Northampton Saints 31 - 24 Bath Rugby

3/10/14 - Bath Rugby 21 - 11 Saracens

C. Previous European Honours

1. Glasgow Warriors - None

2. Bath Rugby - Heineken Cup: 1997-98 / European Challenge Cup: 2007-08

Guscott's twitter is a joke, bad loser

Been out getting smashed on a muddy field by some very fit youngsters all afternoon. How good were Glasgow?

According to Gusscot on the BBC the Scottish teams don't have a hope in hell of even getting out of the group
Both have won this weekend.

Notch wrote:The only thing surprising about this result is that anyone could be surprised about this result.

Yes and no. We know what Glasgow can do, but as of yet they have never done it in a big European game. These games are a step up and so far we have not managed to do that. It is a process though and today it looked like we were starting to get it, even coming through a slight second half wobble when our scrum tired. We can definitely say that no one should be surprised from now on!

At least our props are on their way back now, so hopefully we won't be in that situation again. I wonder if Grant or Welsh will be fit enough to play next week off the bench? Montpellier certainly won't be a soft option up front and in set plays.

15 - Hogg (other than mistake for try, good all round performance) 7
14 - Maitland (finished his try well & got involved) 6
13 - Bennert (best performance in a Glasgow shirt, great angles & support running) 8
12 - Horne (quiet match but defended like a wall & kept ball moving) 6
11 - Seymour (best wing in Scotland, always looked dangerous) 7
10 - Weir (couple loose kicks aside a good performce) 7
9 - Prygos (controlled the first hour, kicked well & looked lively around the edges) 8
8 - Ashe (came into it more in 2nd half, some good powerful bursts) 7
7 - Fusaro (all action as usual) 6
6 - Harley (tireless, throws himself about for 80) 7
5 - Gray (constantly carrying, tackling and hitting rucks) 8
4 - Nakarawa (basketball offloads and did his job as a lock) 7
3 - Murray (scrums weren't dominant but put a shift in) 6
2 - MacArthur (part of struggling scrum but darts were good and active in the loose) 7
1 - Reid (scrum solid enough and got around the paddock) 6

Nematode wrote:Anyone got a link for the Guscott article?

Who would have thought Edinburgh would beat Bordeaux AND Glasgow would win, by such a margin too.

Could someone that saw the game maybe give player ratings? (Particularly Ashe, Weir, Bennett), would really like to know how they went.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/29649458

Reid - 6

Worked hard as always but poor in the scrum

Mcarthur - 6

Ditto, lineout was generally good

Murray - 7

See Reid, but showed up more in the loose

Nakarawa - 7

Some great offloads and monstrous carries, but made the odd wrong decision

Gray - 8

Colossal as always

Harley - 8

See Gray

Fusaro - 7

Busy, but not a massive impact

Ashe - 8

He's no Strauss but had a very good game with some great carries


Pyrgos - 9

Ran the show very well and even 'did a Matawalu' for the 3rd try

Weir - 8

The odd mistake, but attacked the gainline well - much improved in that respect

Seymour - 8

Was having a barnstorming game until he went off injured at half time

Horne - 6

Didn't really notice he was playing until near the end

Bennett - 9

My motm. Some superb running and brilliantly taken try. Even more amazing after last week.

Maitland - 8

Back to his best with a well taken try

Hogg - 8

Responsible for their try, but good apart from that

jimbopip wrote:Been out getting smashed on a muddy field by some very fit youngsters all afternoon. How good were Glasgow?

Maybe not quite an 80 minute performance, we had about 10 mins in the second half when they looked like they might mount something. Then Niko came on and it was all over!

Best we have played all season by far. Very good performances across the team, hard to pick anyone out really. Even when they made mistakes, heads stayed up and they were quickly rectified. The slight worry was the scrum weakening in the second half but as said, the cavalry is on its way on that front, so we should only improve there.

So a short answer to your question is 'very good'

Well done you Weegies, showing what us Pro12 teams can do and just how damn good you guys are, concrete solid performance.
Ulster now need to do the same......not easy

Anyone got a link for the Ulster game? RDW??

Great result!

We started shakily and I must admit I thought, here we go again in Europe. But we settled quickly and were the best team apart from a 10 minute period in the second half, where we kicked away too much possession and Bath to be fair played well.

In open play the forwards were outstanding and they set the platform for the backs to do what they do. Scrum is still a weakness but we at least kept the area competitive.

Individually in the forwards, Gray was outstanding. Ashe looks a good prospect as well, hard to believe that was only his 3rd professional start ever!

Seymour was brilliant till he went off and Pygros and Bennett must be close to starting in the AIs.

Its just a great club to follow at the moment. Fifteen minutes after the game the entire (uninjured) squad were out signing autographs, something that they do win, lose or draw.

Did Henson get the hook or was he injured? He looks a shadow of the player he was.

Didn't see the game but I was very pleased with this.

Cue now the usual boring reactions from the clueless broadsheet sports press suggesting that this was somehow a freakish result, something that 'nobody expected' or that the entire Glasgow 23 had the 'game of their lives' or that this was 'their final'.

Kiss my face with all of that stuff. Glasgow played to their potential and current form and they were at home. That's it. Surprising, in fact, to absolutely nobody who actually follows Pro 12 Rugby. Watch the identical headlines when Ospreys take down Northampton or run them within 5.

As a secret Bath fan, it's going to be about 8 times harder at the Rec, but then again, we knew that already.

Its all ready happening the BBC have the Saints loss down to them "self destructing" even thou Racing never looked like losing it even thou they played near 20mins with 14 men.

Well played Glasgow, by far the better team and deserve all the plaudits.

Bath... Well it was very poor really, there's no shame in being second best on the day but some of the basics on display were just not good enough. We seem to be far too hot and cold and I hope some heads are bashed together after this, injuries can't be blamed for the way we played.

So well done Glasgow, I hope at the Rec we try and make a game of it at least!

I was expecting a Glasgow win, but that was a big margin. Bath fans, why did you start that frontrow given the backrow you were having to select? Was the focus on keeping players fresh for the home match next week? Unless they get some good news in returning backrow players I can't see them winning against Toulouse next week, which should be competition over for them.

Bathman_in_London wrote:Well played Glasgow, by far the better team and deserve all the plaudits.

Bath... Well it was very poor really, there's no shame in being second best on the day but some of the basics on display were just not good enough. We seem to be far too hot and cold and I hope some heads are bashed together after this, injuries can't be blamed for the way we played.

So well done Glasgow, I hope at the Rec we try and make a game of it at least!

I'm looking forward to it already.  Should be a good game. Bath will be out for revenge

Sensible comments from Jonny Wilkinson about Glasgow - watch from about 2:15:
http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/9523566/champions-cup-round-up-18th-oct

Bathman_in_London wrote:Well played Glasgow, by far the better team and deserve all the plaudits.

Bath... Well it was very poor really, there's no shame in being second best on the day but some of the basics on display were just not good enough. We seem to be far too hot and cold and I hope some heads are bashed together after this, injuries can't be blamed for the way we played.

So well done Glasgow, I hope at the Rec we try and make a game of it at least!

Cheers, big man. As ever, the Bath supporters were a delight to host.

I'll be there at the Rec in January - looking forward to it already!

What was up with that Bath team selection? Nothing wrong with the backs, but the forwards reads like something they might put out in the LV Cup. Are Bath not taking European rugby seriously this year?

https://www.606v2.com/t56093-ercc-pool-4-round-2-montpellier-herault-v-glasgow-warriors

alcoombe wrote:What was up with that Bath team selection?  Nothing wrong with the backs, but the forwards reads like something they might put out in the LV Cup.  Are Bath not taking European rugby seriously this year?

Rotation? Underestimating Glasgow?

Don't the Pro12 teams get slated for squad rotation in spite of the fact French teams do it more....

I'm pretty sure the French teams get slated for flogging players AND sending weakened teams to away games.

I thought the theory was that the english clubs could only afford to play their best players in the league whereas the Pro12 teams can rest players in the league so be fresh for the European cup?

What Glasgow have actually been doing is rotating all players all season so far and its worked - the whole squad is match fit and competing for places for the big games.

TJ wrote:I thought the theory was that the english clubs could only afford to play their best players in the league whereas the Pro12 teams can rest players in the league so be fresh for the European cup?

What Glasgow have actually been doing is rotating all players all season so far and its worked - the whole squad is match fit and competing for places for the big games.

I'm glad someone in Pro12 has learned from Leinstatics!  Now if only Leinster could re-learn a few of their other tactics, like actually playing rugby again.

Pretty much all teams do that. Their definition of 'big games' might be different.

HammerofThunor wrote:Pretty much all teams do that. Their definition of 'big games' might be different.

Don't know why I wasted half a year of my life defending the 'tactic' then

alcoombe wrote:What was up with that Bath team selection?  Nothing wrong with the backs, but the forwards reads like something they might put out in the LV Cup.  Are Bath not taking European rugby seriously this year?

There wasn't any choice for the back row, Louw, Garvey, Houston, Fa'osiliva and Fearns are all unavailable (it's why they were trying to get Armitage). Can't be sure why the international front row was on the bench (a Bath supporter might have better insight), but they had started every game in the premiership so far this season, so as Niwatts suggests above, maybe with the back row issues they wanted to make sure the FR was in peak condition for the home game against Toulouse.  Away losses are acceptable, but home losses effectively knock you out of this competition.

markb wrote:  Away losses are acceptable, but home losses effectively knock you out of this competition.

A grain of truth perhaps....but mitigated by the other truth which states that sides who can win away generally turn up as trophy winners.
So it's not really that the emphasis should be on winning your home games above all else...but rather that the drive should be to win a few away games come what may.
A seeming subtle difference of emphasis maybe, but a dramatically different theory on winning in Europe.

If you lose at home, you know you must win away to neutralise it.

SecretFly wrote:

markb wrote:  Away losses are acceptable, but home losses effectively knock you out of this competition.

A grain of truth perhaps....but mitigated by the other truth which states that sides who can win away generally turn up as trophy winners.  
So it's not really that the emphasis should be on winning your home games above all else...but rather that the drive should be to win a few away games come what may.  
A seeming subtle difference of emphasis maybe, but a dramatically different theory on winning in Europe.  

If you lose at home, you know you must win away to neutralise it.

Teams that get away wins most certainly do usually go through, but most common is that sides that lose at home don't.  The toughest pools stand a strong chance of seeing all home wins (there was only one away win from eight this week), with bonus points the decider.

In relation to Bath my point was that with the extent of their back row problems they were never realistically going to win in Glasgow, so if they were having to prioritise it would have been for their home game of the fortnight and then regroup and target away wins in the later rounds when it would be almost certain they'll have better resources available to them.  Plenty of European champions have not picked up an away win in the opening rounds, but have any recovered from opening round home losses?

Having not been in this competition for a few years, although they would certainly have been talking of and pushing for more I suspect Bath's more achievable target at the beginning of the season would have been for a best runner-up spot.

SecretFly wrote:

HammerofThunor wrote:Pretty much all teams do that. Their definition of 'big games' might be different.

Don't know why I wasted half a year of my life defending the 'tactic' then

I don't either. It always seemed to flip flop between "you flog your players and we rest ours properly" and "you rest your players just as much as us". Difficult to tell what the point was at some times.

George Carlin wrote:Sensible comments from Jonny Wilkinson about Glasgow - watch from about 2:15:
http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/9523566/champions-cup-round-up-18th-oct

Crikey, a pundit who may have actually watched them play. Take notes Jeremy Smugface.

With regards to the team selection, the back row was as it was because they were the only backrowers who were fit (well 2 plus a lock). The front row was because the reserve unit have played well when they have come on, plus James, Webber and Wilson had started every game so far.

So that's why it happened, although I don't like the front row call myself, I would have preferred to have rotated single players rather than the whole unit. But we had Saints, Tigers and Sarries back to back, so understand why the first choicers were wanted then.

I think we were looking to nick a LBP and then focus on winning our home games but we were just completely outplayed on the day.

I wouldn't get too concerned were I a Bath fan. Glasgow have done the same to plenty good teams and once Glasgow get up a head of steam, and then someone like Matawalu comes off the bench, it's difficult if you aren't controlling territory and possession. The Bath injuries/rotation will also have played a big part.

Joseph still looked dangerous as did Watson (although I do think Watson would be better at 15 than Henson for you guys).

Henson was God awful.

Mark Bennett made it into the Planet Rugby team of round 1 - absolutely deserved.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Mark Bennett made it into the Planet Rugby team of round 1 - absolutely deserved.

Agreed. Loved his try against Bath, great balance and strength.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Mark Bennett made it into the Planet Rugby team of round 1 - absolutely deserved.

Agreed. Loved his try against Bath, great balance and strength.

Messiah?

RDW_Scotland wrote:Mark Bennett made it into the Planet Rugby team of round 1 - absolutely deserved.

Agreed.  And I'll bet that there were a few other Glasgow players in contention as well, judging by some of the other games I managed to see.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Mark Bennett made it into the Planet Rugby team of round 1 - absolutely deserved.

Agreed. Loved his try against Bath, great balance and strength.

And it was meatball who made the space and supplied the pass. all very encouraging.

Just read the match report in the Times: seems that Bath were really unlucky, George Ford put it down to the ref giving a free kick to Glasgow when it should have been Bath's scrum and Pyrgos took it quickly, then two breakaway tries against the run of play!!!
You can see what he means, they'll probably put 50 pts on us at the Rec.

Bath were really unlucky - to be playing in the same group as Glasgow and to meet a Glasgow team on fire.