Agony for Glasgow as they fall short against Bulls

Glasgow Warriors fell agonisingly short with a second-half comeback as the Vodacom Bulls emerged 40-34 winners in their United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld.

Trailing 37-10 entering the final quarter, the league leaders responded by running in three tries in eight minutes to raise hopes of extending their winning run in the URC to seven matches.

But fly-half Chris Smith landed a penalty to put the Bulls out of reach and inflict on their opponents a first loss in the competition since December.

Glasgow’s dazzling play after the hour mark and three points from Duncan Weir with the last kick of the game at least secured two bonus points in a dramatic encounter between title rivals.

Matt Fagerson gave them an early lead but moments after Kyle Steyn had been sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle on Akker van der Merwe, the former Springboks hooker touched down from a well-worked play.

Glasgow were struggling to break out of their half in the face of waves of attacks and there was nothing flashy about the next try they leaked with sheer pressure leading to number eight Cameron Hanekom crossing.

Once George Horne and Smith had exchanged penalties, the Bulls ran in an electric try that started when Glasgow coughed up possession with their own attack.

The ball was threaded to Kurt-Lee Arendse and the South Africa wing weaved his way downfield but just as Steyn made the tackle, Elrigh Louw arrived to take the scoring pass.

The bonus point was secured six minutes after the interval when sharp handling exposed Glasgow’s passive defending with Canan Moodie crossing.

With winning seemingly now an impossible prospect, the Warriors focused on registering their own bonus point and their cause was aided when a superb long pass by Horne fell into the arms of Steyn for a simple run in.

But in a flash the comeback was on when Sebastian Cancelliere picked off an intercept try and then Weir finishing a stunning move that bamboozled the Bulls through brilliant running lines and pinpoint handling.

Smith slammed the door shut, however, before Weir was on target with a penalty to register a second losing bonus point.