Glasgow Warriors produced an outstanding second half performance to seal a stunning 28-17 bonus-point win against the Stormers in South Africa. 

After a chaotic first-half that somehow ended just 7-7 with Johnny Matthews crossing the line for Glasgow, Sione Tuipulotu and Kyle Rowe scored two brilliant tries before Henco Venter secured the bonus point in the final 10  minutes.

Winning in South Africa isn’t easy and it was a statement win for Glasgow as they signalled their intent ahead of the international break with their bench players providing a fantastic impact. Franco Smith’s men return to Scotland from their two-game South Africa tour with a phenomenal seven points as they showcased why they are URC champions.

It was an error-strewn opening ten minutes in Stellenbosch but Glasgow repelled some early pressure as they grew into the game. Huw Jones made a couple of line breaks but the Warriors couldn’t execute offloads successfully and the Stormers turned over possession after the visitors kicked to the corner on 15 minutes. 

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Springbok fly-half Manie Libbok possesses the ability to create moments of magic and he danced past a couple of tackles on 18 minutes but Glasgow recovered well to avert danger. It was a chaotic first half despite the lack of points as it resembled a sevens game with both sides aiming to offload and keep the ball off the ground. 

After a crazy period of play, the Stormers thought they’d scored the first try of the afternoon after Leolin Zas won a footrace with Josh McKay but it was disallowed after a TMO review for a knock-on from Warrick Gelant. 

The Stormers turned up the tempo around the half-hour but Libbok’s slack pass floated into Josh McKay’s hands as Sebastian Cancelliere collected his long kick but support was lacking and the Stormers secured a turnover.

Glasgow’s defence finally yielded on 34 minutes when Damian Willemse got the first points on the board. The powerful centre picked a brilliant line to collect Gelant’s offload and he breezed over the line with Libbok adding a simple conversion. 

But Glasgow responded impressively as they levelled the scores just four minutes later through a familiar route. After Libbok was sinbinned for a deliberate knock-on, Glasgow kicked to the corner and their famed rolling maul culminated in Matthews driving over the line with Adam Hastings converting.

Two of the best scrums in the URC went head to head with Zander Fagerson making an immediate impact after his introduction for the second half as Glasgow won an important penalty just before taking the lead through Tuipulotu on 47 minutes. 

It was an excellent move as Glasgow created space wide with Cancelliere’s sublime kick popping up perfectly for Tuipulotu to celebrate being named Scotland captain with a try for his club - Hastings converted impressively. 

But Glasgow’s lead lasted just six minutes as the Stormers’ levelled the score when Libbok produced a stunning pass for Dan du Plessis to score. Franco Smith’s men thought they’d reestablished the lead on the hour mark after a sensational break from Tuipulotu ended with Cancelliere crossing the line but Hastings’ no-look pass to his captain was forward.

But after Libbok kicked a penalty to put the Stormers 17-14 ahead, Glasgow responded brilliantly again with an exquisite individual try from Rowe. Tuipulotu floated a perfect pass into the winger’s hands and he produced a perfect bouncing kick before tiptoeing down the touchline to collect and score with an outstanding finish. 

Glasgow secured their bonus point and essentially sealed the win when Venter barged over the line on 70 minutes. 

Here are five things we learned.

South Africa success 

Glasgow have happy memories of South Africa after winning the URC last season in the Southern Hemisphere. And the Warriors have enjoyed a successful tour across the last fortnight and they’ve highlighted their title credentials. They picked up two bonus points in defeat to the Sharks last weekend and they’ll be delighted to return home with seven points from their tour after the stunning win against the Stormers. 

Sevens in South Africa?

It was an absolutely chaotic first-half amid a carnival atmosphere at the Danie Craven stadium. The game was played at a relentless tempo and there was little structure that made it a thrilling watch despite it remaining scoreless until the 34th minute.

There was a combination of brilliant attacking rugby with sloppy handling errors and it resembled a game of sevens with structure lacking. The second half was slightly less chaotic but it was still a fantastic watch and showed that Glasgow can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the URC. 

All eyes on Johnny Matthews 

The spotlight was on the Glasgow hooker after his omission from the Scotland squad for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series. It was a controversial decision from Gregor Townsend with many questioning the call.

Matthews was the top try scorer in the URC last season and it was no surprise to see him score against the Stormers from a line-out.

It wasn’t a vintage display from Matthews with a couple of poor line-outs and handling errors but his try-scoring ability and running power showed why so many eyebrows were raised by Townsend’s decision. 

Warriors’ Scotland contingent 

It will be a quick turnaround for the 19 Glasgow stars named in the Scotland squad ahead of facing Fiji next weekend. Townsend could hand starts to a plethora of Warriors at Murrayfield and a number impressed against the Stormers.

Huw Jones and Tuipulotu should continue their centre partnership at international level, Kyle Rowe staked his claim to start at fullback with Blair Kinghorn’s absence and the pack could be dominated by Glasgow men.

Then there’s the battle to start at fly-half with Finn Russell missing next week with Jordan and Hastings both impressing. 

Matt Fagerson concern

Matt Fagerson went off for a HIA after 26 with Heco Venter entering proceedings and he failed the assessment as he didn’t reappear.

It will now put his availability with Scotland against Fiji in doubt and Fagerson would have been in strong contention to start next week. Ventor was excellent for Glasgow after replacing Fagerson, which shows the strength in depth available to Smith. 

Stormers: Warrick Gelant, Ruhan Nel, Dan du Plessis, Damian Willemse (Hartzenberg 36), Leolin Zas, Manie Libbok, Paul de Wet (Jantjies 59), Brok Harris (Lyons 59), Andre-Hugo Venter (Dweba 59), Frans Malherbe (Fouche 55), JD Schickerling (Smith 59), Ruben van Heerden, Marcel Theunissen, Ben-Jason Dixon, Keke Morabe (Engelbrecht 60)

Tries: Willemse 33, du Plessis 54

Conversions: Libbok 34, 55

Penalty: Libbok 63

Yellow card: Libbok 36

Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Sebastian Cancelliere, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (captain), Kyle Rowe; Adam Hastings (Jordan 60’), George Horne (Dobie 63’), Jamie Bhatti (Sutherland 40’), Johnny Matthews (Hiddleston 72’), Sam Talakai (Fagerson 40’), Gregor Brown, Richie Gray (Cummings 40’), Matt Fagerson (Venter 26’), Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey

Tries: Matthews 37, Tuipulotu 47, Rowe 63, Venter 70

Conversions: Hastings 38, 48; Jordan 65, 72

Referee: Andrew Brace

Player of the Match: Sione Tuipulotu