Pro12 FINAL - Glasgow Warriors v Munster Rugby, 30 May

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31 GLASGOW WARRIORS v MUNSTER RUGBY 13
Saturday 30 May 2015
KO: 18:30
Ravenhill, Belfast

Live on Sky Sports/TG4/BBC Sport Scotland

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU, 127th competition game)
Assistant Referees: 1) Ian Davies, 2) Sean Brickell, 4) Gwyn Morris, 5) Wayne Davies (all WRU )
Citing Commissioner: Stefano Marrama (FIR)
TMO: Derek Bevan (WRU)

A. Head to Head - Aggregate

25 Played 25
9 Wins 15
15 Losses 9
1 Draws 1
46 Tries 63
36 Conversions 42
64 Penalties 54
1 Drop Goals 1
491 Points 564
25 Avg. Age 27

B. Head to Head - Recently

Sat 28 Feb 2015 - Munster Rugby 22 - 10 Glasgow Warriors

Sat 20 Dec 2014 - Glasgow Warriors 21 - 18 Munster Rugby

Fri 16 May 2014 (PO) -  Glasgow Warriors 16 - 15 Munster Rugby

Sat 12 Apr 2014 - Munster Rugby 5 - 22 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 25 Oct 2013 - Glasgow Warriors 6 - 13 Munster Rugby

C. Run-In

Glasgow Warriors

22/05/15 - Glasgow 16 - 14 Ulster

16/05/15 Glasgow 32 - 10 Ulster

08/05/15 Ospreys 21 - 10 Glasgow

Munster Rugby

23/05/15 Munster 21 - 18 Ospreys

16/05/15 Munster 50 - 27 Dragons

09/05/15 Ulster 23 - 23 Munster

D. Teams

Glasgow Warriors

Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour, Richie Vernon, Peter Horne, DTH van der Merwe, Finn Russell, Henry Pyrgos, Gordon Reid, Dougie Hall, Rossouw de Klerk, Leone Nakarawa, Jonny Gray, Rob Harley, Ryan Wilson, Josh Strauss (captain).

Replacements: Fraser Brown, Jerry Yanuyanutawa, Jon Welsh, Al Kellock, Chris Fusaro, Niko Matawalu, Duncan Weir, Sean Lamont.

Munster Rugby

Felix Jones; Keith Earls, Andrew Smith, Denis Hurley (captain), Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams; Dave Kilcoyne, Eusebio Guinazu, BJ Botha; Billy Holland, Paul O'Connell; Donnacha Ryan, Paddy Butler, CJ Stander.

Replacements: Duncan Casey, James Cronin, Stephen Archer, Sean Dougall, Jack O'Donoghue, Cathal Sheridan, JJ Hanrahan, Ronan O'Mahony.

Was really worried about this game but what a result.

Fantastic fantastic fantastic.

Congrats Glasgow. Played the better rugby on the day, and deserved the win.

Commiserations Munster. Wasn't to be your day, but no doubt you will be up there fighting for silverware next season.

Glasgow Warriors, good for rugby, good the Pro 12, good for Scotland and most of all, good for Glasgow!

Fabulous!
Elated that Glasgow have done it, let's hope that we can take the key performers forward to the world cup.
All players were fantastic, but the squad members for me to go forward to the world cup are:
Primary: Hogg, Seymour, Russell, Pyrgos (my MoM tonight), REID, Welsh, Gray, Harley, Brown, Wilson.
Secondary: HORNE, Vernon, Fusaro, Weir.
Standouts tonight though ( Scottish) that will ay in RWC were Hogg, Russell, Pyrgos, Reid, Gray, Wilson, Strauss.
Chuffed to bits. Toonie is a fabulous leader.

Just back from Ravenhill. Superb game, fantastic crowd. Delighted to have been there, even if Ulster weren't. Two eldest boys adopted Glasgow as second team before kick-off, based on the chanting, cheering and flag-waving of Glasgow supporters.

Some enjoyable panto moments as well.

Munchkin wrote:Congrats Glasgow. Played the better rugby on the day, and deserved the win.

Commiserations Munster. Wasn't to be your day, but no doubt you will be up there fighting for silverware next season.

The biggest concern for Munster has to be the 10 shirt. Keatley nearly threw the semi away against the Ospreys. He was very poor today as well and Hanrahan is gone. The responsibility lies with two coaches who refused to play Hanrahan instead of Keatley over the course of many seasons.

Artful_Dodger wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Congrats Glasgow. Played the better rugby on the day, and deserved the win.

Commiserations Munster. Wasn't to be your day, but no doubt you will be up there fighting for silverware next season.

The biggest concern for Munster has to be the 10 shirt.  Keatley nearly threw the semi away against the Ospreys.  He was very poor today as well and Hanrahan is gone.  The responsibility lies with two coaches who refused to play Hanrahan instead of Keatley over the course of many seasons.

I was thinking about that as the second half wore on. Keatley is very hot and cold and in comparison to the rest of the quality in his squad, does stand out for the wrong reasons. Are there any youngsters in the Munster squad who fancy taking the shirt?

Where do I begin?
Well like the Norwegian commentator.... GC, BigGee, Tattie SconesRRN, Ian Bru (Bro), Schiz. We've all been on a journey. What a journey. What a performance. What a team.

Toonie said, "We'll be a better side for winning this" That should be something to see.

Last word: Big Al was tremendous when he came on. Tremendous. They should name an award after him.

George Carlin wrote:

Artful_Dodger wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Congrats Glasgow. Played the better rugby on the day, and deserved the win.

Commiserations Munster. Wasn't to be your day, but no doubt you will be up there fighting for silverware next season.

The biggest concern for Munster has to be the 10 shirt.  Keatley nearly threw the semi away against the Ospreys.  He was very poor today as well and Hanrahan is gone.  The responsibility lies with two coaches who refused to play Hanrahan instead of Keatley over the course of many seasons.

I was thinking about that as the second half wore on. Keatley is very hot and cold and in comparison to the rest of the quality in his squad, does stand out for the wrong reasons. Are there any youngsters in the Munster squad who fancy taking the shirt?

Ironically yes, and he's been treated so badly he's off to England- the JJ Hanrahan saga still bemuses me. Very good atmosphere at the ground today, and some very good rugby played. I think the Pro12 will be very pleased that the gamble of pre-deciding a Final venue paid off handsomely.

Notch wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

Artful_Dodger wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Congrats Glasgow. Played the better rugby on the day, and deserved the win.

Commiserations Munster. Wasn't to be your day, but no doubt you will be up there fighting for silverware next season.

The biggest concern for Munster has to be the 10 shirt.  Keatley nearly threw the semi away against the Ospreys.  He was very poor today as well and Hanrahan is gone.  The responsibility lies with two coaches who refused to play Hanrahan instead of Keatley over the course of many seasons.

I was thinking about that as the second half wore on. Keatley is very hot and cold and in comparison to the rest of the quality in his squad, does stand out for the wrong reasons. Are there any youngsters in the Munster squad who fancy taking the shirt?

Ironically yes, and he's been treated so badly he's off to England- the JJ Hanrahan saga still bemuses me. Very good atmosphere at the ground today, and some very good rugby played. I think the Pro12 will be very pleased that the gamble of pre-deciding a Final venue paid off handsomely.

Any thoughts about the team who won today, Notch old socks?

Still thinking about hilarious wee Jimbopips suggestion for an Al Kellock award-surely there must be comic gold there!

Amazing. Couldn't be more made up.

So this is what it feels like to win? Curious.

Time to get bolloxed.

Artful_Dodger wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Congrats Glasgow. Played the better rugby on the day, and deserved the win.

Commiserations Munster. Wasn't to be your day, but no doubt you will be up there fighting for silverware next season.

The biggest concern for Munster has to be the 10 shirt.  Keatley nearly threw the semi away against the Ospreys.  He was very poor today as well and Hanrahan is gone.  The responsibility lies with two coaches who refused to play Hanrahan instead of Keatley over the course of many seasons.

Well without the world class big game player that is Conor Murray it was always going to be tough today, and tough on Keatley in particular. I agree that Munster need to be thinking about replacing him now though. Hopefully Hanrahan matures into a top class player while he's away, and finds his way back into the Munster side.

madmaccas wrote:Amazing. Couldn't be more made up.

So this is what it feels like to win? Curious.

Time to get bolloxed.

Yes I have not felt like this since 1990, its been a long time coming and you are right, have almost forgotten what it was like!

BigGee wrote:

madmaccas wrote:Amazing. Couldn't be more made up.

So this is what it feels like to win? Curious.

Time to get bolloxed.

Yes I have not felt like this since 1990, its been a long time coming and you are right, have almost forgotten what it was like!

I think I like it. I want more. Hoping the players feel the same!

Don't remember much about 1990 beyond everyone being very overexcited and my old man shedding a rare tear.

BigGee wrote:It is just so fantastic to see a side who play the way Glasgow do to get their reward.

Seconded. After losing last season's final, they could have changed the way they go about things, but they've stuck to their guns, stayed true to their philosophy and they've got the reward for it. It's great to see.

Well done Glasgow, fully deserved win. Not just tonight, but over the course of the season.

Yes, I'm disappointed with the result as I wanted O'Connell to sign off in style. But more than anything I feel sick because this is a Glasgow side that we had exactly where we wanted in the semi and Munsters performance today suggests that if we had kept our heads in the last 10 minutes we would be champions. We watch Glasgows celebrations knowing we very much had the beating of them but we choked and that is a very bitter pill to swallow. It was hard watching Leinster dominate, but we knew they were a better rugby team than us. We can't really say that for Glasgow, it's very close between the two teams but the reason they are Champions and we are not is down to our lack of mental resources not necessarily talent. To be quite frank, the last twenty of our semi-final was the biggest choke I've seen since the All Blacks in the 2007 RWC. If we were to play Glasgow tomorrow anywhere, home or away, I would back us to win every time but we had our chance and mentally we just fell apart. Thats why we didn't deserve anything. Glasgow do very much deserve the title, sport is as much about holding your nerve at the final moment as anything else, and yet we are doomed to know how massive the opportunity we missed really was. I hope every Ulster player was being made to watch and comes back motivated to make up for what happened to us this season

Glasgow played some really good rugby, but I was mightily disappointed in Munsters performance which was incredibly sub par for the occasion. Second best in every area but the scrums. You have to admire just how well coached Glasgow are in attack though. Every time they break the line there is someone running the perfect angle in support- I remarked that Glasgow would have finished the try Munster got about five times over before they did if it was them on the ball. It's incredibly clinical and they certainly play the most positive brand of rugby of the top teams in the league. It's shrewd as well- they don't really have the forwards to dominate a slow game but when they play at their preferred game they are unbelievably tricky to stop. Townsend deserves a huge amount of credit for coming up with the game plan that is perfectly tailored to the players he has, and also being able to raise Glasgows skill level to above what other teams in the league have. How long before he attracts some large offers from other quarters?

You can't beat that Glasgow game plan if you do two things; miss tackles and don't slow down their ball. Munster did both, plus their kicking game was much worse than Glasgows, in addition to the aforementioned gulf in class when it comes to offloading and support play... so there was only one team in it and no doubt over who the deserving winner was. The loss of both O'Mahony and O'Donnell was absolutely critical to Munster. Their lack of depth in the back row was ruthlessly exposed.

madmaccas wrote:

BigGee wrote:

madmaccas wrote:Amazing. Couldn't be more made up.

So this is what it feels like to win? Curious.

Time to get bolloxed.

Yes I have not felt like this since 1990, its been a long time coming and you are right, have almost forgotten what it was like!

I think I like it. I want more. Hoping the players feel the same!

Don't remember much about 1990 beyond everyone being very overexcited and my old man shedding a rare tear.

We all shed a few. I am showing my age now!

Player ratings Glasgow

Hogg 8
Seymour 7
Vernon 6
Horne 7
van der Merwe 9
Russell 9
Pyrgos 9
Reid 7
Hall, de Klerk 7
Nakarawa 10
Gray 8
Harley 8
Wilson 8
Strauss 9
Replacements:
S. Lamont 6
Matawalu 6
Weir 6
Yanuyanutawa 6
Brown 7
Welsh 7
Kellock 8
Fusaro 7

I was also disappointed to hear Matawalu getting booed when he came on. Even though I don't really like or respect Matawalu I think it's quite crass to boo a player like that.

Notch wrote:I was also disappointed to hear Matawalu getting booed when he came on. Even though I don't really like or respect Matawalu I think it's quite crass to boo a player like that.

How much was the incident focused on in mainstream news? (I don't pay attention)

I get the feeling a significant handful booed him, and then a thousand or so more joined in whilst quietly asking 'what did I miss?'

Notch wrote:Yes, I'm disappointed with the result as I wanted O'Connell to sign off in style. But more than anything I feel sick because this is a Glasgow side that we had exactly where we wanted in the semi and Munsters performance today suggests that if we had kept our heads in the last 10 minutes we would be champions. We watch Glasgows celebrations knowing we very much had the beating of them but we choked and that is a very bitter pill to swallow. It was hard watching Leinster dominate, but we knew they were a better rugby team than us. We can't really say that for Glasgow, it's very close between the two teams but the reason they are Champions and we are not is down to our lack of mental resources not necessarily talent. To be quite frank, the last twenty of our semi-final was the biggest choke I've seen since the All Blacks in the 2007 RWC. If we were to play Glasgow tomorrow anywhere, home or away, I would back us to win every time but we had our chance and mentally we just fell apart. Thats why we didn't deserve anything. Glasgow do very much deserve the title, sport is as much about holding your nerve at the final moment as anything else, and yet we are doomed to know how massive the opportunity we missed really was. I hope every Ulster player was being made to watch and comes back motivated to make up for what happened to us this season

Glasgow played some really good rugby, but I was mightily disappointed in Munsters performance which was incredibly sub par for the occasion. Second best in every area but the scrums. You have to admire just how well coached Glasgow are in attack though. Every time they break the line there is someone running the perfect angle in support- I remarked that Glasgow would have finished the try Munster got about five times over before they did if it was them on the ball. It's incredibly clinical and they certainly play the most positive brand of rugby of the top teams in the league. It's shrewd as well- they don't really have the forwards to dominate a slow game but when they play at their preferred game they are unbelievably tricky to stop. Townsend deserves a huge amount of credit for coming up with the game plan that is perfectly tailored to the players he has, and also being able to raise Glasgows skill level to above what other teams in the league have. How long before he attracts some large offers from other quarters?

You can't beat that Glasgow game plan if you do two things; miss tackles and don't slow down their ball. Munster did both, plus their kicking game was much worse than Glasgows, in addition to the aforementioned gulf in class when it comes to offloading and support play... so there was only one team in it and no doubt over who the deserving winner was. The loss of both O'Mahony and O'Donnell was absolutely critical to Munster. Their lack of depth in the back row was ruthlessly exposed.

I don't think many people would agree with your assessment

The reason Glasgow won is that they have played the best brand of attacking rugby this season. Ulster have beaten Glasgow once in about 7 attempts.
The semi final was won even when Glasgow played poorly but they still had too much class strike runners which ulster do not have. Even with all Glasgow's injuries.

No , Glasgow very worthy champions .

Notch wrote:I was also disappointed to hear Matawalu getting booed when he came on. Even though I don't really like or respect Matawalu I think it's quite crass to boo a player like that.

Yeah not ideal, but to his credit he played along. Water off a duck's back.

Habana's dive was far worse and no-one remembers now, so I'm sure when he's tearing it up for Bath there'll be more cheering than booing.

He will be missed.

For those who missed it

madmaccas wrote:

Notch wrote:I was also disappointed to hear Matawalu getting booed when he came on. Even though I don't really like or respect Matawalu I think it's quite crass to boo a player like that.

Yeah not ideal, but to his credit he played along. Water off a duck's back.

Habana's dive was far worse and no-one remembers now, so I'm sure when he's tearing it up for Bath there'll be more cheering than booing.

He will be missed.

I don't know what it was like at the ground, but from the TV it all had the feel of the pantomime villain about it. Niko was certainly smilling and clearly found the whole thing amusing and most of the fans booing seemed to be smiling as well.

I think it is all water under the bridge now and no hard feelings. Niko for all his faults (and he has plenty) has lit up the league for the past three years. The league and Glasgow in particular have been lucky to have him. He will be missed and I hope that Bath find a way to make the best use of him!

alive555 wrote:
I don't think many people would agree with your assessment

The reason Glasgow won is that they have played the best brand of attacking rugby this season. Ulster have beaten Glasgow once in about 7 attempts.
The semi final was won even when Glasgow played poorly but they still had too much class strike runners which ulster do not have. Even with all Glasgow's injuries.

No , Glasgow very worthy champions .

Well said, Alive and i will add that Ulster didn't really "choke" last week but rather Glasgow massively upped their game in those last 10 and Ulster starting 15 (as basically no subs were used) couldn't cope with it.

VinceWLB wrote:

alive555 wrote:
I don't think many people would agree with your assessment

The reason Glasgow won is that they have played the best brand of attacking rugby this season. Ulster have beaten Glasgow once in about 7 attempts.
The semi final was won even when Glasgow played poorly but they still had too much class strike runners which ulster do not have. Even with all Glasgow's injuries.

No , Glasgow very worthy champions .

Well said, Alive and i will add that Ulster didn't really "choke" last week but rather Glasgow massively upped their game in those last 10 and Ulster starting 15 (as basically no subs were used) couldn't cope with it.

Not sure they lifted their game as much as we fell of the pace. That was down to the coach not using the bench. We owned the first half, and should have entered the second half with more points on the board really.

No complaints about the Glasgow win though. Their coach was smarter than ours. It' s hard to have a go at Doak though. It was his first season as head coach, and Ulster have been hammered with injuries. Regardless of that he was very close to leading Ulster to a final.

Glasgows win is good for the league, for Scottish rugby and for fans who like to see attractive rugby. As a Munster fan I'm disappointed but really Munster didn't deserve to win based on the season.

Munster have (had) 3 stand out players in POM, POC and Murray. Two of those being missing didn't help and would have made a big difference but Munster would have still come up short because Glasgow ran out easy winners in the end.


I must say the coaching of Irish provinces - apart from Connacht - this season has been awful. Townsend is a treasure that Scottish rugby need to hold onto.

Wow! Wow! Wow!
Absolutely thrilled, been following Scottish rugby for a decade now & in that time there's been nothing of any sustenance to celebrate until now!

As for the game, never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd blow Munster away like that. 4 cracking tries & barrel loads of resolve shown in defence. That was one of Russell & Pyrgo's finest games. The backrow rejigging worked a treat. All in all a brilliant day.

Infact only two things could have made it better, Nakawara being eligable for us & the final being in Glasgow where it belonged!

Mmmm, also is it just me or is big Josh Strauss looking more Scottish by the day...

Congratulations to Glasgow. They have been the best team throughout the season and the one in front for most of it. Their win is good for the league and good for Scotland.

Notch I don't agree that Ulster were the better side, but I do agree they choked. They choked at home in 2013 against Glasgow and the semi-final had the same feel to it. Ulster should have won that game but they didn't and they lost to a last minute try then as well.

Townsend has Glasgow thinking their way to victory and that is something most sides would love their head coach to instill in their players. Glasgow will do well to hold onto him when he is offered a million a year at an English or French outfit, especially if they give Europe a run next season - I hope they do.

Huge well done to Glasgow Warriors. Top of the league and then play off winners is a well deserved achievement.
Townsend has built a great squad who have played well all season and today raised their game even more.
Fantastic not just for Glasgow but also for Scottish rugby.
Tactics by Townsend today were spot on. Playing a game very similar to the all blacks where they used very high tempo in defence to force Munster into mistakes & then use a quick counter attack.

alive555 wrote:

Notch wrote:Yes, I'm disappointed with the result as I wanted O'Connell to sign off in style. But more than anything I feel sick because this is a Glasgow side that we had exactly where we wanted in the semi and Munsters performance today suggests that if we had kept our heads in the last 10 minutes we would be champions. We watch Glasgows celebrations knowing we very much had the beating of them but we choked and that is a very bitter pill to swallow. It was hard watching Leinster dominate, but we knew they were a better rugby team than us. We can't really say that for Glasgow, it's very close between the two teams but the reason they are Champions and we are not is down to our lack of mental resources not necessarily talent. To be quite frank, the last twenty of our semi-final was the biggest choke I've seen since the All Blacks in the 2007 RWC. If we were to play Glasgow tomorrow anywhere, home or away, I would back us to win every time but we had our chance and mentally we just fell apart. Thats why we didn't deserve anything. Glasgow do very much deserve the title, sport is as much about holding your nerve at the final moment as anything else, and yet we are doomed to know how massive the opportunity we missed really was. I hope every Ulster player was being made to watch and comes back motivated to make up for what happened to us this season

Glasgow played some really good rugby, but I was mightily disappointed in Munsters performance which was incredibly sub par for the occasion. Second best in every area but the scrums. You have to admire just how well coached Glasgow are in attack though. Every time they break the line there is someone running the perfect angle in support- I remarked that Glasgow would have finished the try Munster got about five times over before they did if it was them on the ball. It's incredibly clinical and they certainly play the most positive brand of rugby of the top teams in the league. It's shrewd as well- they don't really have the forwards to dominate a slow game but when they play at their preferred game they are unbelievably tricky to stop. Townsend deserves a huge amount of credit for coming up with the game plan that is perfectly tailored to the players he has, and also being able to raise Glasgows skill level to above what other teams in the league have. How long before he attracts some large offers from other quarters?

You can't beat that Glasgow game plan if you do two things; miss tackles and don't slow down their ball. Munster did both, plus their kicking game was much worse than Glasgows, in addition to the aforementioned gulf in class when it comes to offloading and support play... so there was only one team in it and no doubt over who the deserving winner was. The loss of both O'Mahony and O'Donnell was absolutely critical to Munster. Their lack of depth in the back row was ruthlessly exposed.

I don't think many people would agree with your assessment

The reason Glasgow won is that they have played the best brand of attacking rugby this season. Ulster have beaten Glasgow once in about 7 attempts.
The semi final was won even when Glasgow played poorly but they still had too much class strike runners which ulster do not have. Even with all Glasgow's injuries.

No , Glasgow very worthy champions .

Well said alive....Glasgow deserved their win in the semi final despite not being at their best & utterly deserved to win tonight!

I don't agree with the theory that Ulster are a better side than Glasgow when you consider the teams at full strength (just look at the Bath performance) but the truth is Glasgow and Scotland have had talented players and good performances in the past but have played poorly when it mattered. Glasgow's character and temperament has been class (in a way some of the more unsavoury aspects (just the dive incident really, not that I condone it at all) have been good in a sense that our players have often seemed naive against more experienced Irish and Welsh sides) the last few weeks particularly. The moments that frustrate me more than ever when thinking about Scottish rugby is way our last two world cups have ended with Parks panicking against Argentina and Weir's long pass to Huget when we had them on the rack, Russell's try and pass in the last two weeks were magnificent.

Furthermore if you'd shown the team that started tonight to anyone at the start of the year they wouldn't have been considered title winners, especially without Dunbar and Bennett, but their resolve and bravery brought them over the line and you have to give credit to Townsend for that.

123456789 wrote:I don't agree with the theory that Ulster are a better side than Glasgow when you consider the teams at full strength (just look at the Bath performance) but the truth is Glasgow and Scotland have had talented players and good performances in the past but have played poorly when it mattered. Glasgow's character and temperament has been class (in a way some of the more unsavoury aspects (just the dive incident really, not that I condone it at all) have been good in a sense that our players have often seemed naive against more  experienced Irish and Welsh sides) the last few weeks particularly. The moments that frustrate me more than ever when thinking about Scottish rugby is way our last two world cups have ended with Parks panicking against Argentina and Weir's long pass to Huget when we had them on the rack, Russell's try and pass in the last two weeks were magnificent.

Furthermore if you'd shown the team that started tonight to anyone at the start of the year they wouldn't have been considered title winners, especially without Dunbar and Bennett, but their resolve and bravery brought them over the line and you have to give credit to Townsend for that.

You do remember Ulster absolutely destroying Glasgow at Ravenhill? And we were missing players then. We weren't at our strongest facing Glasgow in the Semi, but then neither were Glasgow.

There's one fact that outshines all others - Glasgow are PRO12 champions, and deservedly so. They play a lovely brand of rugby, they have some real talented players, and a growing fan base. Long may it continue.

Tweet from Townsend, "Flight home cancelled. Back to Belfast then..."
Anyone in Belfast got a spare room!?

Munchkin wrote:

123456789 wrote:I don't agree with the theory that Ulster are a better side than Glasgow when you consider the teams at full strength (just look at the Bath performance) but the truth is Glasgow and Scotland have had talented players and good performances in the past but have played poorly when it mattered. Glasgow's character and temperament has been class (in a way some of the more unsavoury aspects (just the dive incident really, not that I condone it at all) have been good in a sense that our players have often seemed naive against more  experienced Irish and Welsh sides) the last few weeks particularly. The moments that frustrate me more than ever when thinking about Scottish rugby is way our last two world cups have ended with Parks panicking against Argentina and Weir's long pass to Huget when we had them on the rack, Russell's try and pass in the last two weeks were magnificent.

Furthermore if you'd shown the team that started tonight to anyone at the start of the year they wouldn't have been considered title winners, especially without Dunbar and Bennett, but their resolve and bravery brought them over the line and you have to give credit to Townsend for that.

You do remember Ulster absolutely destroying Glasgow at Ravenhill? And we were missing players then. We weren't at our strongest facing Glasgow in the Semi, but then neither were Glasgow.

There's one fact that outshines all others - Glasgow are PRO12 champions, and deservedly so. They play a lovely brand of rugby, they have some real talented players, and a growing fan base. Long may it continue.

I'm not saying Ulster are a bad team, not for a second, nor am I saying Glasgow are streets ahead of Ulster but if you look at results between the sides for the last 2-3 years we've been on top. And I mean no disrespect to Ulster when I say that this season I genuinely believe that Glasgow had the best team, the best squad and the best coach in the league and that's why we won. I respect the Ulster team above almost all others and have done since the way the team reacted to the Payne incident against Sarries and I don't particularly like aspects of how the semi was won or the reaction, and that's from both sides..

Amazing win for Glasgow!! After a shmabolic 6 nations this is just what we needed, huge confidence booster for the Glasgow contingent. Also great to see Kelock bow out with some silverware, he was a great leader and superb club player.

It has to be said, the culture Townsend has created at Glasgow is incredible. I've enjoyed watching Glasgow play these past few years, they have had some really great wins and to see them finally win the league is amazing!

Glasgow I salute you. You are awesome.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Glasgow I salute you. You are awesome.

He's drunk. Someone write that down because he'll deny he ever said it tomorrow.

First of all congratulations Glasgow. Fully deserved that win and even though Munster took a hammering it was a very entertaining game to watch (and I have no complaints about the refereeing!).

A couple of thoughts - it was a very close league at the top of the table and I don't see how anyone can claim that Glasgow were by far the best team in the league. Glasgow & Munster were on the same points (with Ospreys 1 pt behind). Munster scored the most tries that were ever scored in the league this season (TF 68, with also the best defence TA 31).

Hopefully Glasgow will kick on now and start challening in the Champs Cup.

As for Munster - Conor Murray was a huge loss. We got hammered by Sarries when he was missing as well. In fairness to Duncan Williams, he was excellent, but he just isn't in the same class as Murray. I don't know what has happened to Keatley in the last few months - maybe his old groin injury is back - up to the 6Ns he was fine, but since then his kicking game from both hand and tee has gone to pot and he seems to have lost confidence again.

As for JJ Hanrahan. Munster offered him a 3 year contract and he turned it down for a 2 year contract with Northampton. Northing you can do about that.

Well done Glasgow! Awesome result. Didn't see the game but sounds like a good 'un.

Agree with that Sin.

I don't think that any team was the best "by far" over the season, but Glasgow did win one game more than anyone else (16) and conceded fewer points than anyone else (360) so I think were fair value for their table topping status.

It is also true that 2 of the 3 players which Munster could not afford to lose (POC being the third) were precisely the 2 which they lost. Murray makes a massive difference when he plays (Henry Pyrgos said that in a pre-game interview) and about the only Munster player that might have made inroads into slowing down the Glasgow recycling was O'Mahony.

Remember that time Nike made the 6 Nations Grand Slam video.

https://i.imgur.com/pC9a1YG.jpg

George Carlin wrote:Agree with that Sin.

I don't think that any team was the best "by far" over the season, but Glasgow did win one game more than anyone else (16) and conceded fewer points than anyone else (360) so I think were fair value for their table topping status.

It is also true that 2 of the 3 players which Munster could not afford to lose (POC being the third) were precisely the 2 which they lost. Murray makes a massive difference when he plays (Henry Pyrgos said that in a pre-game interview) and about the only Munster player that might have made inroads into slowing down the Glasgow recycling was O'Mahony.

Ospreys also won 16 (Munster 15). Ospreys conceeded fewer points as well (358). Munster had best points difference (214), Glasgow (180), Ospreys (188).

The league was really close.

Tweet of the day:

https://twitter.com/jimmyja29795206/status/604730280851714049

See Edinburgh, this is what happens when you vote Yes.

So that's where we've been going wrong!

Genuine question - why have Glasgow never got anywhere in Europe?

It's all very well comparing heads-to-heads, but the provinces have been in finals, semi-finals, quarter-finals aplenty over the last five years.

Although the table was very close, Glasgow were clearly the best Pro12 team this year, and they play a fantastic style of rugby. For family reasons, they're my second team. So believe me when I say I genuinely wonder.

Sin é wrote:

As for JJ Hanrahan. Munster offered him a 3 year contract and he turned it down for a 2 year contract with Northampton. Northing you can do about that.

Hanrahan was always going to leave if he is seen as 2nd choice outhalf behind Keatley, a guy he probably thinks he is better.

Don Alfonso wrote:Genuine question - why have Glasgow never got anywhere in Europe?

It's all very well comparing heads-to-heads, but the provinces have been in finals, semi-finals, quarter-finals aplenty over the last five years.

Although the table was very close, Glasgow were clearly the best Pro12 team this year, and they play a fantastic style of rugby. For family reasons, they're my second team. So believe me when I say I genuinely wonder.

Glasgow choked on the european front, twice against Blues 2 seasons a go and twice against Toulouse this season, thats the reason.