Glasgow Warriors V Benetton Rugby Friday 29th September

Glasgow Warriors v Benetton Rugby

Friday 29th September
KO 19.35
Palazzo Soapdodger

Referee: Dan Jones (WRU)

Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas (WRU), Cammy Rudkin (SRU)

***
Glasgow Warriors: R Jackson, T Seymour, N Grigg, S Johnson, L Jones, P Horne, H Pyrgos, A Allan, P MacArthur, D Rae, B Alainu'uese, S Cummings, R Harley, C Fusaro, R Wilson (capt)

Replacements: F Brown, J Bhatti, A Nicol, T Swinson, M Fagerson, A Price, B Thomson, N Matawalu

Benetton Rugby: J Hayward, A Esposito, T Benvenuti, A Sgarbi, L Sperandio, M Banks, T Tebaldi, M Barbini, A Steyn, S Negri, D Budd (capt), M Fuser, S Ferrari, L Bigi, C Traore.

Replacements: F Zani, A De Marchi, T Pasquali, F Ruzza, M Lazzaroni, R Barbieri, G Bronzini, I McKinley

No TV coverage


Unfortunately this match is not being televised, which is not going to make for such a great thread if none of us can see the game. Hopefully though, we will get some highlghts afterwards.

Both teams on a bit of a roll though. Glasgow four from four and leading the conference after putting Munster to the sword last weekend and Benetton posting impressive wins against Ospreys and Edinburgh.

Perhaps from Glasgow's perspective and with a trip to South Africa beckoning the following weekend, the main question will be what sort of team to put out. Normally this woyuld be a game to rotate and rest but we don't want to take any chances either. Still, a good few players have played in all 4 games so far and will be due a rest under SRU protocols and really we do have to test the squad depth at some stage.

Finn broke his nose last weekend, so I would not be surprised to see him sit this one out. Frazer Brown is strongly being tipped to make his comeback as well. I fancy we might see Rae start this one with Adam Nicol benching to give Zander a week off as well. Swinson, following his bang on the head may benefit from a week off to.

Whatever team goes out though, it really should be strong enough to win this match.

If this was in Italy, I would say that Glasgow would have a tight game ahead of them but at home and especially after taking Munster apart, I would say Glasgow by 2 clear scores with a TBP.

You would hope that Benetton winning their last 2 games will have knocked any risk of complacency out of Glasgow. Which may well have done us a favour.

I fancy a few youngsters to starts, with some older heads on the bench just to calm things down if the kids are getting a little bit over exuberant during the game.

Treviso have played well in the last 3 games with an aberration away at Munster. Treviso have come to Scotland recently and won so the fear factor will be far lower.

If the conditions are good, I would expect Glasgow to be able to put up points and win comfortably. Want some wet conditions though as Treviso can provide a contest and Glasgow can prove they can play the way they want regardless of the wet.

Well we won in Galway in the teeth of a gale and driving rain and on real grass. Not sure what you point is re the weather - it was raining last Friday at the start of the game.?

Glasgow's handling was poor in the wet in Cardiff and Connacht they played a more circumspect game.

I want to see if they can pull off what they tried at Cardiff and succeeded with against Munster.

Looks like Benetton Rugby Treviso are now just know as Benetton Rugby, dropping the city name from team name, controversial?

Kingshu wrote:Looks like Benetton Rugby Treviso are now just know as Benetton Rugby, dropping the city name from team name, controversial?

It's kind of going back to their roots really, they were always known as Benetton in their heyday, pre-professionalism, when they usually paid a few Aussie's and Kiwi's to come along and play for them. Campese was known to been found of wintering in Italy if I remember correctly.

They became Benetton Treviso and then just Treviso, when Benetton feel out with the Italian RU and stopped sponsoring them. They must be back on board now I guess. Treviso is very much a company town, dominated by Benetton, so not much doubt who they are representing.

They seem to have made a much better start this year and are doing better, so the name change seems to be working. This is a good thing for Italian rugby and the league in general.

Their form of late certainly makes Edinburgh's loss at home look slightly less terrible, although it was still a game we really should have won if we hadn't played like a sack of crap!

I agree that we should have too much for the risotto makers but am always nervous.

There's no way we will take them lightly - Rennie's old mucker from Taranaki, Kieran Crowley, is the Benetton coach.

Kingshu wrote:Looks like Benetton Rugby Treviso are now just know as Benetton Rugby, dropping the city name from team name, controversial?

No, not really. If you ever have the pleasure of going there (Treviso a fabulous place ) the locals know the team as Benetton- always have tbf.

We should beat the Vespa Boys but Renzo has a decision to make.
I think he needs to give his starters V Execeterr a run out, but the round trip to Cheetahs, coupled with playing on hard ground may encourage him to "rotate" players for that game. So does this mean that players like Fraser Brown and, possibly, Bane are in the 23?
Brown because he's back to fitness, apparently. Bane because with out Kebble or Nuke we're getting thin in the front row. (Not a sentence which you can type without struggling with the counter-intuitiveness of it. Rather like, "I'm going to Direside to watch rugby".)
So is it a very strong 23 against Benneton and "the others" v Cheetahs or does Renzo wait to see if returning players can prove their fitness in Sarf Effrika?

Nuke? Is that Bhatti?

Allan, MacArthur, Rae, Brian, Cummings, Harley, Wynne, Ashe, Pyrgos, Russell, Jones, Horne, Grigg, Sarto, Thomson (is he around?)

Brown, Whatever there is left, Nicol or the new Tongan prop, Peterson, Smith/Fagerson, Horne, Jackson, Mata

We are really struggling for centres at the moment if Johnson is out. Kelly, Dunbar, Vernon and Jones all out. Fergusson could train with us until the 7's start.

Turner, Fagerson, Swinson, Cummings, Jackson and Jones have got through quite a bit of time early in the season. Need to start thinking somewhat about rotation where possible. Got to keep in mind Gibbins is coming off a Super Rugby season and we need him for the Euro's and the international periods.

Hazel, Nuke is the Tongan prop. Halanukeplusthreeothersyllables.

Ashe, Cummings, Half-Man Half-Mullet, Jones and Jackson should all be rested before Execeterr.

Also, by my reckoning Furra Lined, Johnson and Griggs are our only fit centres.

What odds on Naughty Boy and Oscar Peterson starting on Friday?

Problem with that Jimbo is that I don't think either Big Bri or Petersen can call the throw - always JG , Scott Cummings or Tim Swinson. Think Rennie will not underestimate Benetton and may go for a strong starting 15 with a Mark 2 bench - Geo. Horne and Co. Be good to see Paddy Kelly back at 13 too at some stage but he may still be injured. Hastings might be back too. Finn needs to rest his new Zorro like mask thingy.

The Benetton Rugby Treviso to Benetton Rugby was just a bit of pot stirring, Treviso have a long history with Benetton but with Toyata Cheetahs joining it is a worrying trend. I hope that when Cheetahs deal is up they aren't allowed to renew it, I really dont want to see Kingspan Ulster or BT Glasgow Warriors. I'd hope Benetton Rugby get an exception.

Anyways I thought that Benetton Rugby made some strong signings at the start of the year and are looking much improved, aside from the Munster game they haven't looked anything like their old selves. Which is great for the League and sound quieten the calls to dump the Italians. I think teams will be taking them more seriously at the min. I dont think bookies have noticed yet and 16/1 looks like a very handsome price.

Thank you JB. Saves me having to try and learn his name. Bit worrying that we have managed to crock our 2 SR props before October. Some lessons to be learnt.

If the 3 line-out callers are set, whoever is starting against Exeter gets rested against the Cheetahs (assuming JG is out or only fit enough for the bench). No point flogging Cummings and Swinson in SA followed by a tough game in the SW. Personally I am in favour of Cummings and it would give Swinson a week off following his HIA.

With regards to the sponsorship, I am okay with the Cheetahs keeping it as they came in with it. Treviso have a long history of using Bennetton. All other teams though should be rejecting overtures.

Surely it'd be Buckfast Rugby for Glasgow, and Woollen Mill Rugby for Edinburgh?

Anglobraveheart wrote:Surely it'd be Buckfast Rugby for Glasgow, and Woollen Mill Rugby for Edinburgh?

I always felt that Kappa Glasgow and Tampax Edinburgh would work well.

One of my former playing team mates got the nickname of Tampax, due to his regularity of being injured, he was usually in for a week, then out for 3..... True story!

15. Ruaridh Jackson (117)
14. Tommy Seymour (102)
13. Nick Grigg (24)
12. Sam Johnson (26)
11. Lee Jones (58)
10. Peter Horne (120)
9. Henry Pyrgos (129)

1. Alex Allan (53)
2. Pat MacArthur (157)
3. D’Arcy Rae (27)
4. Brian Alainu’uese (19)
5. Scott Cummings (21)
6. Robert Harley (164)
7. Chris Fusaro (126)
8. Ryan Wilson (130) CAPTAIN

Replacements:

16. Fraser Brown (64)
17. Jamie Bhatti (10)
18. Adam Nicol (1)
19. Tim Swinson (101)
20. Matt Fagerson (12)
21. Ali Price (45)
22. Brandon Thomson (3)
23. Niko Matawalu (75)

Unavailable players: Rory Hughes (shoulder), Kiran McDonald (hip), Leonardo Sarto (ankle), Alex Dunbar (knee), Jonny Gray (wrist), Stuart Hogg (shoulder), Oli Kebble (foot), Paddy Kelly (ankle), Ratu Tagive (achilles), Richie Vernon (achilles) and Samuela Vunisa (knee).


As predicted a bit of rest and rotation has gone on this week. If not now then whenever?

Mad Man to be unleashed late on perhaps

George Carlin wrote:

Anglobraveheart wrote:Surely it'd be Buckfast Rugby for Glasgow, and Woollen Mill Rugby for Edinburgh?

I always felt that Kappa Glasgow and Tampax Edinburgh would work well.

I'm surprised to see you have time to make with the jolly japes, GC. Admin Boy says you are his fuul-time teaboy now.

Oh, and mine's a skinny chai latte.

Bench does look pretty strong should we need a bit more impetuous in the second half.

Matt Fagerson got his pro contract announced today and thoroughly deserved it is as well. Hopefully he can celebrate by coming off the bench with Ali Price, Swinson and Niko to cause some havoc.

Looking forward to seeing what Adam Nicol can do as well. He looked so strong for the u20s, hard to believe he is also not ready for this level. he could be the next academy guy to pick up a pro contract.

jimbopip wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

Anglobraveheart wrote:Surely it'd be Buckfast Rugby for Glasgow, and Woollen Mill Rugby for Edinburgh?

I always felt that Kappa Glasgow and Tampax Edinburgh would work well.

I'm surprised to see you have time to make with the jolly japes, GC. Admin Boy says you are his fuul-time teaboy now.

Oh, and mine's a skinny chai latte.

See that's your mistake Jim.

We all know that your morning tipple is a venti builders tea with two sachets of Mescaline.

George Carlin wrote:

jimbopip wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

Anglobraveheart wrote:Surely it'd be Buckfast Rugby for Glasgow, and Woollen Mill Rugby for Edinburgh?

I always felt that Kappa Glasgow and Tampax Edinburgh would work well.

I'm surprised to see you have time to make with the jolly japes, GC. Admin Boy says you are his fuul-time teaboy now.

Oh, and mine's a skinny chai latte.

See that's your mistake Jim.

We all know that your four in the morning morning tipple is a venti builders tea with two sachets of Mescaline and a tattie scone (fried in butter).

Fixed that for you.

It used to be that a Harley, Fusaro and Wilson back-row gave me confidence. I think they were balanced in what they provided. Fusaro has been off the mark for a while so hopefully he shows up here to make me eat my words and fight for the 7 jersey. Harley has to show why he is good enough with Wynne and Fagerson coming up. The back row really lacks someone of real class but has a bunch of good players. Hopefully the pressure turns some of the young ones into top players.

I assume with the way the second row has been built that Cummings will start at Exeter. Swinson will start in SA. The backs are dangerous as sad as it is that Sarto can't put on a clinic against an Italian side. Front row is what I would hope for. Weird to think both props are 25. Been around a while.

BigGee wrote:

15. Ruaridh Jackson (117)
14. Tommy Seymour (102)
13. Nick Grigg (24)
12. Sam Johnson (26)
11. Lee Jones (58)
10. Peter Horne (120)
9. Henry Pyrgos (129)

1. Alex Allan (53)
2. Pat MacArthur (157)
3. D’Arcy Rae (27)
4. Brian Alainu’uese (19)
5. Scott Cummings (21)
6. Robert Harley (164)
7. Chris Fusaro (126)
8. Ryan Wilson (130) CAPTAIN

Replacements:

16. Fraser Brown (64)
17. Jamie Bhatti (10)
18. Adam Nicol (1)
19. Tim Swinson (101)
20. Matt Fagerson (12)
21. Ali Price (45)
22. Brandon Thomson (3)
23. Niko Matawalu (75)

Unavailable players: Rory Hughes (shoulder), Kiran McDonald (hip), Leonardo Sarto (ankle), Alex Dunbar (knee), Jonny Gray (wrist), Stuart Hogg (shoulder), Oli Kebble (foot), Paddy Kelly (ankle), Ratu Tagive (achilles), Richie Vernon (achilles) and Samuela Vunisa (knee).


As predicted a bit of rest and rotation has gone on this week. If not now then whenever?

I'm now more convinced that ever that most of the starters against Execeterr won't start next week. Mainly because I think that a half-way round the world flight must be one of the worst ways to recuperate from a rugby match, assuming you played rather than tanked the Castle lager in the stands.
Based on the Scotland player rest protocols Fagerson, Swinson, Russell, Horne and Jones will have to miss either the Treviso or Cheetahs game. Ragnar and Dancer aren't in this week's 23; Swinson is benching, but Jones and Horne may well be in for the full 80.

Turner, Cummings, Ashe and Jackson have all played 4 in a row. Ashe and Turner get a rest, Cummings and Jackson start. However, Jackson must start against Execeterr as it's simply too late to fit anyone else into the patterns of play. Schiz mentioned that Cummings calls the lineout like Jonny and Swinson, which to me implies that you really want two callers in your matchday 23 so it'll be two of those three every week plus one of Brian or Oscar P. (For the props out there: if you only have one caller and he gets broken then you're lineout is Donald Ducked. If we wanted that we would have signed Mr Chinhook.)
I can't see Lee Jones playing against the Cheetahs, as on form he should start at Sandy Park. However, I expect that Renzo will look to start players who might be in the 23, or are on his first call-up list.

So against Cheetahs I hope NOT to see;
Ragnar, Turner,Bhatti,
Cummings, Swinson,
Wilson, Ashe, Half-Man Half-Mullet,
Aldi Price, Dancer,
Furra Linee,
Jones, Seymour, Jackson.
Centres are a problem, basically it'll be two from Horne, Johnson and Grigg. I think all three are good enough to consider themselves first XV players.

Well since my wife is away visiting her folks* and I had nothing better to do** I thought I might as well go to the game tonight. Anyone else going?

*in China. I was there too, but needed to get back to work and so came home a bit earlier (got home last night).

**I should really be at choir practice, but a) it's (mostly) music I already know, and b) for my jet-lag (see previous point) it's probably better to be outside in the fresh air than locked inside a dark rehearsal room.

Anyway looking forward to this one. Caught the Munster game on iPlayer last night, and Glasgow at times were irresistible in attack. The five minute period leading up to the BP try in particular was fun to watch, and while it's easy to say Munster's tackling on Sarto was poor, being run ragged for five minutes beforehand almost certainly played its part. Munster should really have kicked the ball off the park when they had the chance.

Thought Dancer ran the attack very well indeed, so will be interesting to see how they get on without him tonight. He's also kicking like a dream at the moment (think the commentators said it's now 15 successful kicks in a row). I see Hastings is no longer listed among the injured, so slightly surprised he isn't on the bench for this one. I was quite impressed by him against Connaught, he showed some nice touches, and looked like a decent potential long-term replacement for if/when Russell goes to France.

Actually 17/17 from Finn off the tee !

Well it was 15/15 at some point, it just kept going up through the game

The touchline conversion from Grigg's try was a particular beaut.

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:Actually 17/17 from Finn off the tee !

This season Russell has 16 from 16. 10 cons and 6 pens. http://www.pro14rugby.org/player/?PlayGuid=FR608838

Dan Biggar held the previous record for consecutive kicks (15/15).

In more recent news, Benetton are clawing their way back into the game. 17-9 at HT.

Esposito yellow card, followed by a flurry of points from Pete Horne - a penalty, a try and a conversion.

27-9, 50mins gone.

27-14 - Warriors lead but a couple of good scores from Benetton.

Another Benetton try, but Thomson lands a penalty to calm the nerves. 30-21

BP win at the death. Sam Johnson with the score, Thompson converts.

37-21

Benetton looks to have a real team this season, great to see.

Really looking forward to the Cheetahs-Glasgow game next week. Should be a cracker.

It's brilliant to see Benetton performing so well along with Cheetahs. For once the bottom of tables might look a bit unfamiliar.

Just back - thank feck for Ali Price and Sam Johnson fro the fifth point. Benetton are going to trouble a lot of teams. Well drilled and tough as steel nails esp through the middle. If their SO hadn't missed a very kickable penalty from 25m straight in front on 74 and brought them 6 points off it would have been serious FFS Glasgow time. Big Tim Swinson galvanised the effort in the last 5 mins (85 minute) to get us over when very sensibly Ali Price took the free kick and gave it to Sam Johnson when, ominously, the Madman was hingin' aboot ! Too many basic handling errors could have cost us but 5 pts and top of the league. With another swathe of Ints due back.

Tough old win for Glasgow, Benetton don't seem to be planning on just turning up any more.

From the highlights, the tries all looked very classy, especially the bit of magic from Pete Horne, bringing back memories of his solo effort against Northampton a few years back.

5 from 5 and a few bonus points thrown in to boot, we would certainly have taken that at the beginning of the season, especially as the league seems to be opening up a lot this year.

A very different test awaits in SA next week though, but it looks as if we are going down there with a full strength team. Hopefully we won't fade away in the last quarter as all the other visitors seemed to have done so far. That and we keep well away from the Lions!

BigGee hope you are finished your nightshift and can respond to this. When the ref blew for a free kick after our third scrum penalty on about 85 mins on Friday would that have signalled the end of the game ? I cannot find anything in the Laws that covers this so would appreciate your knowledge here.

@Schizoid

Law 5.7 (Other time regulations) (e)

If time expires and a mark, free kick or penalty kick is then awarded, the referee allows play to continue.

http://laws.worldrugby.org/?law=5
So no, a free-kick doesn't signal the end of the game.

Was a fun occasion on Friday night, despite some pretty awful weather in the first half. Glasgow were a bit inconsistent, a few too many handling errors (even taking into account conditions) and gave away too many cheap penalties in the second half under no real pressure which gave Benetton easy field position. On the positive side, the tries were good, great commitment to push for the BP (and indeed composure when the clock was in the red), and the scrum was dominant generally. Also good to see Fraser Brown back in action.

The atmosphere in Scotstoun in those five minutes of stoppage time when Glasgow were camped on the opposition line and pushing for the BP was pretty amazing too.

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:BigGee hope you are finished your nightshift and can respond to this.   When the ref blew for a free kick after our third scrum penalty on about 85 mins on Friday would that have signalled the end of the game ?  I cannot find anything in the Laws that covers this so would appreciate your knowledge here.  

Thanks to MFC for the clarification, I could not have told you the word for word rule, but instinctively, it would not seem right to end the game on a free kick, or else teams would surely just try to give one away to call time.

I have not seen the full match, so hard to comment really, but you do have to ask why the ref was giving a free kick anyway on a third scrum penalty, surely if they were persistently infringing then should have been a penalty anyway.

These kind of endings are always a mess and the defending team will always continue to infringe, as even a card does not always help the attacking side, as it usually results in non-contested scrums, which does them no favours. A smart ref will know this and will be reluctant to give them that advantage.

In the circumstances, the quick tap and pass was probably the best tactic and it worked!

BigGee wrote:
I have not seen the full match, so hard to comment really, but you do have to ask why the ref was giving a free kick anyway on a third scrum penalty, surely if they were persistently infringing then should have been a penalty anyway.

Not exactly what happened. FWIW the sequence as I remember was this:
- 79th minute, BR in possession, knock on somewhere around halfway, GW scrum.
- GW drive from the scrum, earn the penalty. Superb kick by Thomson earns them a five-metre line-out.
- GW go for the rolling maul, but it's brought to ground and scrum to BR. Clock ticks past 80 but scrum has been called. Last play of the game.
- GW get a decent nudge on at the scrum, but BR get the ball in and out quickly. They try a rather silly chip-kick from under their own posts, fail to gather, and GW regain possession about 15-20 metres out.
- GW go through the phases, work their way towards the line, and eventually earn a penalty. Not unreasonably, they opt for the scrum, given the last two they were on top.
- GW drive BR back from the scrum. Penalty. Scrum again.
- This time BR get a nudge on and GW have to play the ball, again they go through the phases. Get right up to the line, and BR kill the ball. Penalty. IMO BR fortunate to not get a yellow for that.
- After a brief consultation, GW opt for the scrum again. Scrum is unstable on the set, BR pinged for early pushing, free-kick.
- Quick tap from Price, feeds Johnson, who crashes over from short range.

I don't think the free-kick call was unreasonable in that context.

Back to the law point, it obviously makes sense that a free-kick cannot end the match. Otherwise, in situations such as the France-Wales match from this year's 6N you could see Wales conceding a free-kick by pushing early and winning the match as France are set to batter their line.

Thanks guys. There was some discussion on this matter on the GW's forum.
Glad you enjoyed the game and atmosphere MfC - always the same although not quite up to v Munster standards.