Glasgow Warriors come from behind to secure victory over Dragons in Cardiff

Glasgow Warriors came from behind to record a 27-16 Rainbow Cup victory over the Dragons at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Tries from Kyle Steyn, Ross Thompson, George Turner and Kiran McDonald were enough to get the Warriors over the line, while Thompson also contributed seven points from the kicking tee.

Aneurin Owen scored the Dragons’ only try with Sam Davies kicking 12 points.

Glasgow centre Nick Grigg had an early try disallowed after Scotland and Lions tighthead prop Zander Fagerson was penalised for leading with his forearm into Gonzalo Bertranou.

The disallowed try halted Glasgow’s momentum and handed it to the Dragons who scored soon after with Wales under 20s centre Owen ghosting past Grigg to score after a lovely flat pass from Davies who was also successful with the conversion.

Davies extended the home side’s lead as the game moved into the second quarter with a penalty from 30 metres out.

Thompson replied with a terrific penalty from 45 metres out on an angle for the visitors, but they struggled to cope with the home side’s pace and tempo.

The visitors were put back under severe pressure as the Dragons lay siege to their try line, but Glasgow’s defence prevented Dean Ryan’s side from crossing the line. But Dragons playmaker Davies’ game management was top class as he kept the scoreboard ticking over with a well-taken drop goal.

Glasgow finished the first half very strongly as they tried to force their way over the Dragons line from short range. And they finally managed to breach their opponents’ defensive wall, with some subtle hands doing the trick as the ball was flung wide for Steyn to touch down. Things went from bad to worse for the hosts with the referee deciding to send Ross Moriarty to the sin bin for a no arms tackle.

This game had turned completely on its head with arguably the try of the Rainbow Cup to date.

A superb line break from George Turner put the visitors on the front foot before unleashing Scott Cummings. The giant second-rower executed a gorgeous offload to Ali Price who put Thompson over for a try which he also converted meaning the visitors turned around with a 15-13 lead.

Turner had a try disallowed straight after half-time after a successful captain’s challenge from the Dragons spotted a knock-on.

But he did not have to wait long to cross the try line for real as he touched down from short range following a well-organised driving lineout. Thompson knocked over the conversion from the touchline to push the visitors into a nine-point lead.

Glasgow then had a third try disallowed with the captain’s challenge again to blame, with obstruction from Adam Hastings ruling out what would have been a good try from Price.

A late penalty from Davies gave the Dragons a small glimmer of hope but it was too little too late.