A HUMILIATING defeat for Glasgow Warriors in Dublin yesterday afternoon brought the curtain down on a hugely disappointing season for the club. Head coach Danny Wilson, who has a year to run on his contract, insisted afterwards that he plans to be in charge when pre-season starts in a month’s time, but that decision may not be his to make.
Scottish Rugby Chief Executive Mark Dodson has a track record of ruthlessness in these matters, and if a fan mutiny threatens season ticket-sales then there is a good chance he will act decisively.
This was the team’s heaviest defeat since they were walloped 90-19 by Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Cup in 1997, and the only other time they have lost by a bigger margin was when they lost 76-9 against AS Montferrand in 1996.
“It’s extremely, extremely disappointing,” acknowledged Wilson afterwards. “It’s an unacceptable score-line and an unacceptable performance. The players have said the same and every single one of us has to take responsibility – me, ultimately, and everyone involved in what was out there today.
“We conceded 40 points during two yellow cards. We can’t be playing Leinster with 14 men for any period. You cannot be passive against Leinster. We sat off them because we were numbers down.
“We fell apart at the end with conceding more tries. It’s very hard and very painful at the moment. We need took at that and improve dramatically going into next season.”
Pressed on his own position, he replied: “I do believe we were on the right track and our results over the season were better than last season. We’ve had some big wins this season, but that [defeat] is what is going to be on everyone’s minds for the next few months.
“I understand how that feels for everybody. I can assure you that everyone in the changing room is fully aware that we’ve let a lot of people down with our performance today. In our last two games we’ve dropped off a cliff.”
Glasgow started well and took the lead when Zander Fagerson burrowed over for the opening try. Ross Thompson slotted the conversion and, suddenly, all was well in the world for Danny Wilson in his side after a rough couple of weeks.
That warm, fuzzy feeling lasted for 11 minutes, but then everything fell apart when Glasgow lost Richie Gray to the sin-bin after his shoulder caught Jamison Gibson-Park on the jaw as he cleared out a ruck.
Leinster went for the line-out and then jogged the maul all the way to the line for a Dan Sheehan try, converted by Ross Byrne.
Thompson then sent the restart out on the full, and Leinster roared all the way from the scrum on halfway to the Warriors try-line with man-of-the-match Jordan Larmour making the initial dent and then finishing off after an exchange of passes with Gibson-Park.
The hosts were now totally dominant, and Joe McCarthy claimed Leinster’s third try on 23 minutes.
Warriors came close to pulling a try back when Gregor Brown peeled off a line-out to scramble over the line, but Larmour managed to snaffle possession before the ball was grounded.
It was the last time Glasgow were really in the contest, with Sheehan blasting over for his second and his team’s fourth try with just over a minute of the half remaining.
Leinster claimed try number five through No 8 Caelan Doris with just four minutes of the second half played, before Ollie Smith was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on as Leinster lined up on the left to finish off try number six.
The hosts kept their foot on Glasgow’s throat with Michael Ala’alatoa next on the scoresheet, quickly followed by Gibson-Park and then Garry Ringrose.
There was a brief respite when Leinster cleared their bench and Glasgow capitalised on a dip in focus to score a second try through George Horne, but normal service quickly resumed when Larmour scored again to make it 57-14.
If the wheels weren’t off before, they were now. Ciaran Frawley picked off a slack Smith pass on halfway and cantered home, Luke McGrath’s try a minute later was almost as easy, and Jimmy O’Brien piled the last dollop of misery on top of Glasgow when he claimed try number 12 with four minutes to play,.
Teams –
Leinster: J O’Brien; J Larmour, G Ringrose (R Henshaw 58), C Frawley, R O’Loughlin; R Byrne (H Byrne 66), J Gibson-Park (L McGrath 58); A Porter (C Healy 58) D Sheehan (S Cronin, 58), R Furlong (M Ala’alatoa 43), J McCarthy, J Ryan (R Molony 58), R Baird, J van der Flier (J Conan 59), C Doris.
Glasgow Warriors: O Smith; J McKay, S Tuipulotu, S Johnson, R McLean; R Thompson (D Miotti. 68), A Price (G Horne 49); J Bhatti (O Kebble 49), G Turner (F Brown 41), Z Fagerson (S Berghan 49), R Harley (L Bean 59), R Gray, R Wilson (K McDonald 59), G Brown (T Gordon 62), J Dempsey.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Scorers –
Leinster: Tries: Sheehan 2, Larmour 2, McCarthy, Doris, Ala’alatoa, Gibson-Park, Ringrose, Frawley, McGrath, O’Brien; Con: R Byrne 6, H Byrne 2.
Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Fagerson, Horne; Con: Thompson 2.
Scoring sequence (Leinster first): 0-5; 0-7; 5-7; 7-7; 12-7; 14-7; 19-7; 21-7; 26-7 (h-t) 31-7; 33-7; 38-7; 40-7; 45-7; 47-7; 52-7; 52-12; 52-14; 57-14; 62-14; 64-14; 69-14; 71-14; 76-14.
Yellow cards –
Glasgow Warriors: Gray (14mins), Smith (46mins)
