Five things we learned from Glasgow's comeback win over Cardiff

It was a frustrating night for Franco Smith’s side and they were scoreless at half time but tries from Max Williamson and Lucio Sordoni in the second half helped secure the comeback win.

Cardiff took the lead just three minutes in when Glasgow were penalised and Tinus de Beer had a simple kick between the posts.

And it didn’t get any better as Glasgow were penalised for collapsing the scrum on 25 minutes and De Beer kicked it between the posts again to make it 6-0.

The home side continued to be under pressure and Cardiff thought they had got over the line around the half hour mark but some brilliant defensive play saw the ball held up and they escaped on that occasion.

But they didn’t escape for long and Cardiff did get their try when they broke through before De Beer fired the ball wide and Ben Thomas got over the line.

It didn’t take long into the second half for Glasgow to get their opening score as Matt Fagerson broke forward and eventually found Kyle Steyn, who in turn found Williamson and the big lock forced his way over the line to get his side right back into the match.

And they got themselves in front 10 minutes into the second half and substitutes George Horne and Henco Venter had a big part to play in it. Lucio Sordoni eventually forced his way over the line with Weir once again adding the extras.

Weir extended the lead on 67 after deciding to change the tactics and go for the posts before a Steyn try was disallowed for a forward pass.

That was the end of the scoring on a difficult night and here are five things we learned. 

Play the conditions

The swirling wind at Scotstoun wasn’t helping Glasgow even with their poor overall performance. In the first 10 minutes Jamie Dobie attempted to kick the ball away on a number of occasions and all of them saw the ball swirl backwards and barely help Glasgow take a step forward.

Cardiff were using the winds at their back to their advantage and unfortunately for Glasgow, it appeared to die down in the second half.

Not that they needed it though as they stepped up their performance to get right back into it but they won’t be able to do that against better teams who will take advantage more often.

Big spell for Josh McKay

With Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu out injured for the foreseeable, the next couple of months is going to be a huge time for Josh McKay. The full back has been impressive this season and in a miserable first half he was one of the few bright sparks.

Steyn and Stafford McDowall carried well at times but McKay was the only one who looked really threatening and he’ll need to keep that up with for the rest of the season if Glasgow are to challenge on all fronts.

Game of two halves

It might be an old cliché but it really was a game of two halves at Scotstoun. Cardiff dominated the first and Glasgow couldn’t get going at all but it was a much more impressive second half showing from the home side and they ultimately deserved to take the win.

George Horne had a massive effect on the match from the bench with great play in attack and defence and there was a different feeling around Scotstoun. Smith had made three changes early in the second half and clearly hadn’t been happy with the first period of the game. The way Warriors went about their business after the break proved to be the difference.

Winning a different way

Glasgow have played some excellent rugby this season but they showed a different side to them at Scotstoun tonight and really had to battle to get the result tonight.

There’s a lot of young and inexperienced players in this team with the likes of Williamson, Dobie, Alex Samuel and Nathan McBeth and it would be easy for them to crumble when things aren’t going their way but they didn’t allow that to happen.

It might not have been the greatest of performances but champions find a way to win and perhaps this will be the one they look back on at the end of the season.

Home record stays

Glasgow have a brilliant record at home in the URC and it looked in huge doubt at half time. Scotstoun has been a fortress for Warriors and Smith has wanted to ensure that remained the case throughout the season and thankfully for him, they found a way.

It’s the kind of form they need to show to compete at the top end of the table. Duncan Weir spoke earlier in the week about the glory days of the 2015 season, and there’s no reason why they can’t start dreaming again.

Glasgow: J McKay, S Cancellierre (G Horne 50), S McDowall, T Jordan, K Steyn, D Weir (D Munn 79), J Dobie, N McBeth (A Dell 75), J Matthews (G Hiddleston 75), L Sordoni (O Kebble 55), M Williamson, A Samuel (A Miller 50), E Ferrie (S Manjezi 75), M Fagerson (H Venter 50), J Dempsey

Tries: Williamson (43), Sordoni (51)

Conversions: Weir (44, 52)

Penalties: Weir (68)

Cardiff: J Beetham, M Grady, M Clark (W Halaholo, 40), B Thomas, A Summerhill, T De Beer, E Bevan, R Carre, L Belcher (E Daniel 53), W Davies-King (C Parker 65), S Lewis-Hughes (S Davies 55), T Williams, B Donnell, T Young, M Martin (E Jenkins 52)

Replacements:  R Barratt, M Aubrey, O Lane

Tries: Thomas (32)

Conversion: De Beer (32)

Penalties: De Beer (3, 26)

Referee: Frank Murphy 

Attendance:  6,849

Player of the Match: Jack Dempsey