Glasgow’s ruthless maturity brought a half-century of points at altitude, but the longer-term issue might be the serious-looking injury sustained by Zander Fagerson in Bloemfontein.
Fagerson’s injury was the only blot on a “pretty complete second half performance” according to Dave Rennie, where the Warriors scored five tries to one with an energy and endurance as if they were the team accustomed to playing 1400 metres high rather than the Cheetahs.
Hit low from the blindside, the Scotland prop was poleaxed and carted from the field, thereafter to hospital. There was no break, but it looks like Fagerson could be missing for a while, possibly beyond the November tests.
Meanwhile 52-24 looks conclusive, but it wasn’t, as Dave Rennie conceded afterwards. “The scoreline may not indicate it but that was a real test,” said the head ocach.
It’s fair to say the Warriors were rattled a little at half-time. 19-14 down was bad enough, but the Cheetahs, running the ball from everywhere, had two further tries to the three they scored called back for over-eager forward passes.
“It was said at half-time, cut out the errors,” said Rennie. “It’s easier to control the game when you control the ball.
“We showed a lot of maturity in the second half, much better composure , we kicked smarter and defended better, and got the profit off that. We forced the Cheetahs into a lot of tackles and that told on them as the half wore on.”
The Warriors were also helped with by a poor decision by Cheetahs fullback Malcolm Jaer, who clattered into an airborne Tommy Seymour and saw a yellow card a minute into the second 40. Maybe the Warriors would have dominated anyway, but they certainly took full advantage of the extra man, scoring three converted tries in the ten minutes.
“We were clinical around that time, because we looked after the ball.” said Rennie. “I guess we put our foot on their throats when it counted.”
Seymour bounced up from being winded by Jaer to score on the next play, Ali Price marked a successful return by finishing a neat offload from Alex Allan – who made a huge impact as a replacement – and DTH van der Merwe scored his 48th try in a Warriors shirt.
Suddenly the Cheetahs run-from-everywhere philosophy looked naïve and jaded, and they gifted a couple of scores for Callum Gibbins and George Horne – playing on the wing – in the dying minutes.
Man of the match Adam Hastings scored a try and kicked all his goals, perhaps convincing Rennie that he has the temperament for that responsibility as well. Jonny Gray and Gibbins were both exceptional, especially in the second half.
The Warriors next three opponents are the Kings, Dragons and Zebre, the last two at Scotstoun. Another blisteringly fast start to the PRO14 seems in order.
