Glasgow 32 Ulster 10
The ebullience to be found around Scotstoun over Glasgow securing their home semi-final didn’t stick around for long. After all, as things turned out, this was just the first part of a double-header as both sides now meet again on Friday night at the same venue but this time with a place in the Pro12 final at stake.
And though Glasgow got what that they wanted by managing to claim the essential goal of a bonus point win, their achievement at defending their Scotstoun fortress for another Pro12 outing – they have not tasted defeat in the league there since November 2013 – wasn’t quite as reassuring as Saturday’s scoreline would suggest.
Ulster put out what amounted to a shadow side and yet their obduracy, combined with the Warriors’ struggles, posed Gregor Townsend’s side all sorts of issues up until around the 50-minute mark when Stuart Hogg’s skills reignited their challenge.
Self-belief
From there, though, the Warriors’ self-belief surged to the forefront with man of the match Finn Russell scoring twice and Richie Vernon racing clear to bag the vital fourth try with just eight minutes remaining.
Though a fully loaded Glasgow side pretty much took ownership of the second half, with the elements at their backs, it was Neil Doak who was actually able to absorb far more useful data.
Doak’s selection was partly based on the assumption that Ulster’s chances of a home play-off were too remote to risk playing his frontliners.
While his bench contained such luminaries as Rory Best, Tommy Bowe, Paddy Jackson and Ruan Pienaar, this was also based on the unlikely possibility of Ulster being in a position to go chasing a Kingspan semi-final.
Naturally, there is a realisation that no side has won an away Pro12 play-off since 2009-10, but Doak is still the one who will have banked all the fresh knowledge regarding what the Warriors will bring on Friday night. He will also have a near full-strength Ulster who will be just one game away from their dream final at the Kingspan Stadium.
"Things were out of our control and you saw the early parts of the other games with the Ospreys and Munster fairly well ahead," Doak said. "We had to take that into consideration and look after a few bodies on what has been a long season."
With the conditions behind them Ulster led 10-6 at half-time and, though this never seemed likely to be sufficient, the Warriors were looking rather uneasy just prior to Hogg collecting his own kick ahead to score down the right wing.
After that it didn’t take long for Russell to cross, his conversion making it 18-10 and, with Ulster prop Andrew Warwick binned on 63 minutes, Glasgow didn’t let up.
Russell scored again and converted which he also managed after Vernon had burst through a tiring Ulster defence to bring the bonus point and set it all up again for Friday night.
GLASGOW: S Hogg; T Seymour, R Vernon, P Horne, S Lamont; F Russell, N Matawalu; R Grant, D Hall, R De Klerk; J Gray, A Kellock (capt); J Strauss, C Fusaro, A Ashe.
Replacements: R Wilson for Fusaro (17-28 mins and 52 mins), P MacArthur for Hall, G Reid for Grant, M Cusack for de Klerk, H Pyrgos for Matawalu (all 52 mins), L Nakarawa for Kellock (60 mins), P Murchie for Hogg (73 mins), D Weir for Horne (74 mins). Sin Bin: Gray (27 mins).
ULSTER: L Ludik; R Scholes, S Arnold, S McCloskey, M Allen; I Humphreys, P Marshall; A Warwick, R Herring, R Lutton; L Stevenson, F Van der Merwe; C Ross, C Henry (capt), R Diack.
Replacements: T Bowe for Allen (10-19 mins) and for McCloskey (63 mins), I Henderson for Van der Merwe (19 mins), P Jackson for Humphreys (49-55 mins & 60 mins), B Ross for R Lutton (60 mins), K McCall for Henderson (65 mins), R Pienaar for Arnold (73 mins). Sin Bin: Warwick (64 mins).
Referee: I Davies (WRU)
