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NZ flyer off the mark as Glasgow earn big win over Ospreys
By PA
Josh McKay scored his first Glasgow try as Warriors earned a bonus point against the Ospreys with a dominant second-half display.
Sione Tuipulotu grabbed two tries and Cole Forbes also crossed as Warriors secured a 38-19 victory over their visitors at Scotstoun.
Dan Evans got the Ospreys’ only try late on, but Warriors co-captain Fraser Brown immediately marked his return from injury by going over.
The Ospreys started well and twice went ahead during an early exchange of penalties, but they were caught out in the 21st minute after Sam Johnson initially broke the line.
The Welsh side stopped Zander Fagerson and Jamie Bhatti almost on the line, but Glasgow worked the ball out for Forbes to go through Mat Protheroe’s tackle and over the line.
Tuipulotu soon got his first try of the evening after a Warriors scrum inside their own half. The Australia-born Scotland international collected the ball after some short, sharp passes and burst through two challenges before sprinting for home.
Four Gareth Anscombe penalties kept Glasgow’s half-time lead to five points, but the home side pinned the Ospreys back after the interval before McKay stepped inside his man and burst through to score in the 47th minute.
Warriors brought on Tonga international Walter Fifita for his debut and remained on top.
The bonus point was sealed just after the hour mark when Tuipulotu wriggled out of an Anscombe tackle and was soon clear and away from the chasing Ospreys.
The Ospreys finally made some attacking inroads in the second half. Matthew Aubrey charged down Ross Thompson’s kick, but Kyle Steyn caught him with a last-ditch tackle.
The visitors did get their score in the 70th minute when Evans went over after good footwork from Anscombe.
But Brown made his mark two minutes later in his first appearance since suffering a knee injury in October. The hooker took the ball from the back of a maul on the right flank and forced himself over.
Duncan Weir followed up Thompson’s perfect conversion record with an excellent kick to finish off the scoring.
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Latest Comments
Excellent points Mz. Because of other commitments I have just watched the game.
Interesting watching it after reading all the news reports especially in the English media. I was expecting to see a game that the ABs were very lucky to win. What I saw was a game that England showed their tactical incompetence and their inability to construct any try scoring opportunities.
They can go on deluding themselves that they were unlucky to lose ( as Borthwick said post match ) but until they stop relying on rush defence and goal kicking to win I feel they're doomed to be ranked 4 or 5 in the world.
Can't wait until the weekend to see how the Wallabies go against them
Though I dare say Walter will be hoping for an England win.
Go to commentsIF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.
As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.
Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).
This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.
If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.
Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.
After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.
Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.
Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)
Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.
Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.
Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.
Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:
Seeding Band 1
IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG
Seeding Band 2
SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: FIJI
1/8 final opponent GEORGIA
Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA
1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND
Prognosis: You know the prognosis
I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?
Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.
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