Glasgow Warriors v Cardiff Blues, 6 September

First topic message reminder :

Welcome to the new season. A cracking opening game presents itself.
 
Friday 6th September 2013
Kick off:19:35
Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Live on TG4 and BBC Teuchter
 
Referee: Dudley Phillips (IRFU, 35th competition game)
Assistant Referees: David Changleng, Graeme Marshall (both SRU)
Citing Commissioner: Iain Goodall (SRU)
TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU)
 
A. Form - Head to head:
 
Glasgow v Blues
 
20 Played 20
10 Wins 10
10 Losses 10
0 Draws 0  
38 Tries 42
26 Conversions 28
47 Penalties 34
2 Drop Goals 1
389 Points 371
25 Avg. Age 25
 
B. Last season:
 
Saturday 6 October 18:30, Cardiff Arms Park    
Cardiff Blues 3 - 18 Glasgow Warriors
 
Friday 1 March 19:35, Scotstoun  
Glasgow Warriors 29 - 13 Cardiff Blues
 
C. Teams:
 
1. Glasgow  
 
15. Peter Murchie
14. Sean Lamont
13. Mark Bennett
12. Alex Dunbar
11. Byron McGuigan
10. Scott Wight
9. Henry Pyrgos
 
1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa
2. Pat MacArthur
3. Ed Kalman
4. Tim Swinson
5. Al Kellock (Captain)
6. Rob Harley
7. Chris Fusaro
8. Richie Vernon
 
Substitutes:
16. Fraser Brown
17. Gordon Reid
18. Moray Low
19. Tyrone Holmes
20. Jonny Gray
21. Chris Cusiter
22. Ruaridh Jackson
23. Tommy Seymour
 
2. Cardiff  
 
15.Tom Williams
14.Harry Robinson
13.Owen Williams
12.Gavin Evans
11.Chris Czekaj
10.Rhys Patchell
9.Lloyd Williams
 
8.Robin Copeland
7.Josh Navidi
6.Macauley Cook
5.Filo Paulo
4.Bradley Davies
3.Scott Andrews
2.Matthew Rees (C)
1.Taufa’ao Filise
 
Substitutes:
16.Marc Breeze
17.Sam Hobbs
18.Benoit Bourrust
19.James Down
20.Luke Hamilton
21.Lewis Jones
22.Gareth Davies
23.Dafydd Hewitt
 
D. Glasgow fans lexicon:
 
Time on these boards has demonstrated that Glasgow fans use an uncommonly broad selection of nicknames and slang to describe the various members of their team.
 
For those unfamiliar with this gibberish, the following may assist:
 
Alphabetty Spaghetti - D.T.H. van der Merwe, wing
Angel - Gabriel Ascarate, centre
Angela - Jon Welsh, prop
Barry - Byron McGuigan, wing
Big Boab - (see Ginger Tackle Monster, the)
Big Mike - (see Coo, the)
Big Naka - Leone Nakarawa, lock/loosie
Bluto - Josh Strauss, loosie/no.8
Centre, the - (see Lesser Messiah, the)
Coo, the - Michael Cusack, prop
Cooseetah - (see Cus)
Cus - Chris Cusiter, scrum half
DTH - (see Alphabetty Spaghetti)
Flippy - (see Toonie)
Fozzy - Christopher Fusaro, loosie
Furra Lineeeee - Peter Horne, centre
Ginger Tackle Monster, the - Rob Harley, loosie
Guns - Tim Swinson, lock
Henners - Henry Pyrgos, scrum half
Hoggy - Stuart Hogg, full back/wing/centre
Ickle Jon - Jonny Gray, lock
Jedi - James Eddie, loosie
Lesser Messiah, the - Richie Vernon, loosie/no.8
Mark of Nazareth - (see Messiah, the)
Meatball, the - Duncan Weir, fly half
Messiah, the/  - Mark Bennett, centre
Niko - Nikola Matawalu, scrum half
Niko's Mate - Jerry Yanuyanutawa, prop
No Maits - Sean Maitland, wing
Rhubarb - Ruaridh Jackson, fly half
Ruck Inspector, the - Alastair Kellock, lock
Schlong - Sean Lamont, centre/wing
Sherlock - Tyrone Holmes, loosie
Shrek - Gordon Reid, prop
Toonie - Gregor Peter John Townsend MBE, head coach
Wee P - Pat MacArthur, hooker
Weegie from Fiji, the - (see Niko)

Glasgow got lucky in that one.  Neither did enough to claim a "rightful" win so it was always going to come down to a bit a mistake or a bit of magic and Glasgow got it for their try and defended brilliantly at the end.

Just like last seasons opener against the Scarlets, I thought we looked well off the pace and pretty disjointed.  Thankfully, Blues at this point are not at the same level as the Scarlets were last season and we got the win.  Blues won the 9/10 battle hands down, for me our 9/10 are clearly our 3rd choices and by some distance.

Backrow was very disappointing and it looked seriously imbalanced.  If we lose Strauss for any length of time it could be a long season.  Lineout was a bit of shambles but the scrum did fine.

On the positive side of things we got the win in atrocious conditions and Swinson was excellent as was Lamont.  Bench for us was strong and had the impact that was required. Cusiter looked sharp and did well for the try.

Kellock's injury looked a bad one, but he was walking on it at the end of the game, although wearing one of those protective boots.

Good to see the Warriors win. Even in very poor conditions they seemed committed to getting the ball wide early and trying to play rugby.   was very good, Schlong is amazing and Wee Jonny looked the part. Swinson just keeps getting better. So, it's Ulster at Ravenhill next, and they will be hurting after last night. Cooseater and Ruaridh to start?
p.s good luck to the MFL today.

I agree completely. At 9/10 we were second best last night. The Blues half-backs made better decisions and got their team playing in the right areas of the pitch.

Swinson showed again how important he is to the team, doing all the unglamorous stuff and doing it well. My man of the match.

The defence was also good. Interestingly, Glasgow conceded 15 points which is exactly how much they averaged per game last season. Which is an encouraging stat.

Blues are always tough and I think we need to try and take he positives:
1. That is 8 games on the bounce where we're unbeaten at home.
2. Our first XV facing off against the Blues in the Heineken is no going to bear huge recognition to what stared last night.
3. If young Jonny didn't look out of place, that is something to be proud of for someone who has just turned 21.
4. Bennett, Hogg, Horne, Weir and Rhubarb can also make a creditable stab at goalkicking, then? Interesting how quickly Wight seemed to abdicate ownership of the kicking tee.

How did Blues fans feel it went?

Jonny Gray is 19 not 21. With Kellock injured is he first choice for the next few weeks?

123456789 wrote:Jonny Gray is 19 not 21. With Kellock injured is he first choice for the next few weeks?

My bad. Presumably Toonie will alternate between Jonny and our new Fijian friend.

George Carlin wrote:

123456789 wrote:Jonny Gray is 19 not 21. With Kellock injured is he first choice for the next few weeks?

My bad. Presumably Toonie will alternate between Jonny and our new Fijian friend.

Without getting ahead of ourselves could we see a Gray and Gray second row partnership for Scotland a lot sooner than we thought?
Obviously Swinson, Hamilton, Gilchrist and Ryder are probably still ahead of him but if he continues his current trajectory he could be on course to match if not eclipse his Brother

George Carlin wrote:

123456789 wrote:Jonny Gray is 19 not 21. With Kellock injured is he first choice for the next few weeks?

My bad. Presumably Toonie will alternate between Jonny and our new Fijian friend.

Swinson, Ryder for me, no hesitation.

Terrible conditions that were not in the slightest conducive to Glasgow's fast temp off-loading game, plus a bag of nerves in the first outing of the league in front of a home crowd with high expectations - I think Toonie will be quietly satisfied with the win, the Blouses looked much improved and will cause trouble for other teams, and there's clearly plenty of stuff for the players to work on during the week (which is what every coach likes tbh)

George Carlin wrote:Blues are always tough and I think we need to try and take he positives:
1. That is 8 games on the bounce where we're unbeaten at home.
2. Our first XV facing off against the Blues in the Heineken is no going to bear huge recognition to what stared last night.
3. If young Jonny didn't look out of place, that is something to be proud of for someone who has just turned 21.
4. Bennett, Hogg, Horne, Weir and Rhubarb can also make a creditable stab at goalkicking, then? Interesting how quickly Wight seemed to abdicate ownership of the kicking tee.

How did Blues fans feel it went?

1.Excellent point!
2.True, but the Blues will be bolstered with a number of key players.
3.Gray did well, for a teenager to look so at home in the front five is very encouraging.
4.I thought the exact same about Whyte. Fair enough the first one as it was out his range, but if he was not confident of knocking over the 2nd, then there has to be serious concerns about his kicking game.

I said before that I would be pretty happy with a LBP, and we did compete well

However, I can't not be disappointed that we didn't win it when we were 15-12 up with 10 to go.

Still, an away BP to Glasgow is not to bad - and we will have Connacht and Zebre at home not to consolidate and get our Lions back.

In the end it was Cook missing the inside man and Tom Williams failing to cover that cost us - I our Lions were playing neither of those would have been there and you can guarantee Halfpenny would have been in the right place to cover that break :/

Still, some positives to take. Particularly glad to see that Lloyd Williams is going to start this season as he ended last (not how he started last season :/) - combined with Patchell would seems to have the experience of a man 10 years older, and the Blues should have a solid platform.

The Blues kicking game was pretty good, and will only get better when Halfpenny returns and we teach our wingers that their feet aren't only for running.

Real shame about McGuigan's injury - he's been in strong form in the pre-season and finding his way to the line - lucky we've got Tommy Seymour and DTH in the wings. Henry Pyrgos drives me absolutely mental - the sublime to the, sadly mostly, ridiculous

Do we know how bad Barry's'injury is? He was playing well. Mind you, if we're going to lose any winger I would, with respect, rather it was Barry than a Lion (Maitland),the club's'top try scorer (DTH) or an internationalist who was one of our most improved players last year (Seymour).

Any word on Ryan Wilson, anyone? We could really use his energy and power at the moment. He was stellar last year.

Spoke to him last night- he reckons a couple of months till he's ready.

Re McGuigan's injury, Toonie said it was just a knock on the hip and he should be ok.

luvtotup wrote:Spoke to him last night- he reckons a couple of months till he's  ready.

Quality information, Tup! Keep us all up to date.

I thought Glasgow made hard work of an average team, the Blues seem to have settled into the mindset of 'woe is us' and are not playing any rugby with their heads held high, Phil Davies seems happy to play an entire 80 minutes by using a semi weapon in Patchells boot. Both Zebre and Connacht will be fanying their chances on a rubber pitch.

Phil Davies must be the worst coach in professional rugby!

butterfingers wrote: Both Zebre and Connacht will be fanying their chances on a rubber pitch.

 

butterfingers wrote:I thought Glasgow made hard work of an average team, the Blues seem to have settled into the mindset of 'woe is us' and are not playing any rugby with their heads held high, Phil Davies seems happy to play an entire 80 minutes by using a semi weapon in Patchells boot. Both Zebre and Connacht will be fanying their chances on a rubber pitch.

Phil Davies must be the worst coach in professional rugby!

Yeah, it's not like they scored 5 tries in their last game or anything...

Who on earth would use a kicking game in the pouring rain to almost pull off an upset - no you should always keep running the ball in the rain

 

Hello boys.
Apologies to our Welsh brethren as this is off topic.
First game of the season over and an easy 57-10 win. We should have had two matches simultaneously but the opposition only brought about 25. So 4 X 20 mins with rolling subs it was. Utterly furious in the changing room as this would inevitably mean Firsst starting the game and letting the plebs on when they felt so inclined. Got half a game on the wing. Did not disgrace myself and will not need to burn my boots in the back garden, yet. Highlight was Bigson and self clearing out a ruck from which we scored. It's time to treat myself to some rehydration. Bring on next Saturday.

J-pip

Excellent stuff J-Pip - you stories are firing up my enthusiasm to dig out the boots again!

Scrappy game from the Warriors, but positive that they dug out the win in those conditions, sans front line players.

I have been impressed with Jonny Gray in pre-season, and he seemed to carry it forward last night. No mean feat for a lad of 19 to be mixing it up in the second row. When he fully grows into that frame he is going to be some prospect! I wonder when the Lions contingent will slot back into the reckoning?

Agreed about Jonny - he's quite the unit for such a youngfeller. I'm used to seeing very young backs mixing it with their elders but the nasty world of forward play I tend to associate with men in their mid twenties to early thirties. Seeing Gray in the heavy traffic is like seeing a granny with an IPhone 5. Seems wrong, but there's no reason why it shouldn't work well.

GC Wee Jonny reminds me of John Barclay in the way that he seemed to appear at a ridiculously young age and was already pretty much the finished article. Of course Barclay was kidding us all on because he got better and better. I think Toonie and Shade will probably limit Mr Gray's appearances this season to avoid burnout, but we still have Ryder, Niko's other mate, Jedi and Harely if need be.

wales606 wrote:

butterfingers wrote:I thought Glasgow made hard work of an average team, the Blues seem to have settled into the mindset of 'woe is us' and are not playing any rugby with their heads held high, Phil Davies seems happy to play an entire 80 minutes by using a semi weapon in Patchells boot. Both Zebre and Connacht will be fanying their chances on a rubber pitch.

Phil Davies must be the worst coach in professional rugby!

Yeah, it's not like they scored 5 tries in their last game or anything...

Who on earth would use a kicking game in the pouring rain to almost pull off an upset - no you should always keep running the ball in the rain

 

I always find your tone aggressive and needlesly WUMish.

With regards to kicking the ball, Glasgow made 1/2 mistakes from the bombs, and there were a few nice kicks to the corner from Patchell, but you have to call it what it is, lack of ambition. When we kicked clear and the ball stayed in Glasgow ran it back, kept us under pressure and didn't allow us an easy out by kicking straight back at us. As soon as Glasgow raised the tempo and moved the ball they blew us off the park, surely you aren't suggesting that Glasgows tactics were poor? until then Glasgow looked as nervous as us.

This was the clearest case of one team playing not to lose while another decided they wanted to win.

He absolutely dwarfs Swinson when they stand next to each other at scrum-time - impressive, and very timely arrival as big Al fades into the mists of time

Asbo, the mists of time will enshroud us all, leaving nothing but spoken legend. Big Al may still have a few stories yet to author, I hope so. At the moment the Warriors are certainly trying to give us something to mythologise and long may it continue.
When Big Al bows to the inevitable can we give him a Weegie version of the Viking send off? Put his boots on the Govan Ferry and fire bomb it when it's halfway across. I'm sure GC will handle the insurance claim.

Glasgow in the playoff positions, Edinburgh in the bottom two. It's like last season never ended. 

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:Glasgow in the playoff positions, Edinburgh in the bottom two. It's like last season never ended. 

 

George Carlin wrote:

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:Glasgow in the playoff positions, Edinburgh in the bottom two. It's like last season never ended. 

 

  

Pretty unlucky with the TMO call at the end there...!

Lloyd almost gave blues a famous win at Scotstown

maestegmafia wrote:Pretty unlucky with the TMO call at the end there...!

Lloyd almost gave blues a famous win at Scotstown

Wasn't unlucky, he was held up

It was the scrum afterwards that was annoying - we got a penalty then went for another scrum hoping for a penalty try, but as always when the Blues scrummage it all goes jubblies up and Glasgow got a penalty instead - then the game was lost.

Pretty scrappy game, horrible conditions. A win is a win and it gets you going nicely. I do like Seymour and Lamont on the wings, both so direct and run hard.

As always Swinson was awesome, and Harley and Fusaro were typically busy.

Good result, average performance, but Glasgow up and running, so I'm sure Toonie will be fairly satisfied.