Heineken Cup: Glasgow Warriors 20-10 Montpellier

By Andy Campbell
BBC Sport Scotland

Glasgow Warriors claimed their second win in Heineken Cup Pool 3 as Montpellier were beaten at Firhill.

Eric Escande crossed the line for the French side as the match neared the half-hour mark but Duncan Weir kicked the hosts into a 12-10 half-time lead.

Ruaridh Jackson kicked the Warriors further ahead and Federico Aramburu's try put them well in control.

However, Sakiusa Matadigo's late try ensured a bonus point for Montpellier, who host Glasgow on Saturday.

Sean Lineen's side move up to second in Pool 3, three points behind Leinster and two ahead of Bath. Montpellier are two points adrift at the bottom.

Montpellier were temporarily reduced to 14 men when Pierre Berard was sin-binned for taking out the leaping Federico Aramburu and Glasgow soon moved ahead when Duncan Weir kicked a penalty after the French side were caught offside.

But the hosts were penalised for not rolling away and Martin Bustos Moyana kicked Montpellier level as Berard returned to the fray.

Weir's second penalty attempt skewed wide but another offside offence gave the fly-half the chance to atone for that miss and he duly obliged, to the delight of the home fans.

Montpellier began to press and a ruck right on the Glasgow try-line led to a series of scrums and Glasgow's Jon Welsh became the second player yellow-carded after continuing to infringe.

Fly-half Weir kicked all of Glasgow's first-half points
Ryan Wilson was replaced by Ryan Grant to strengthen the hosts' back row but continued scrummage pressure from the French side produced the game's first try, Escande touching down at the second attempt. Bustos Moyana converted.

Weir was successful with a penalty from halfway to bring the Warriors back to within a point.

Vassili Bost joined Welsh in the sin bin following his challenge on John Barclay at a line-out and another massive kick by Weir from the resulting penalty put Glasgow back in front.

Weir pulled a penalty wide at the start of the second half and there was more frustration for the home crowd when Escande tackled Richie Gray has galloped towards the try-line and a Glasgow infringement took the pressure off Montpellier.

Another Warriors charge, this time led by Stuart Hogg, broke down when Weir failed to offload to a team-mate and Hogg's next lung-bursting run was halted by another timely Escande challenge.

Weir was replaced by Jackson and his first penalty sailed superbly through the posts to stretch Glasgow's advantage.

It was from a scrum on the left that Glasgow got their try with the ball recycled through Chris Cusiter, Jackson and the impressive Hogg to Aramburu, who raced through to touch down in the right-hand corner.

Jackson's conversion attempt was wide but Aramburu almost crossed the line again after stealing possession deep inside the Montpellier half.

The French side survived that break and rallied to release Matadigo to run in a try on the right, Bustos Moyana missing the conversion.

TEAM DETAILS:
Glasgow: Stuart Hogg; Federico Aramburu, Peter Murchie, Graeme Morrison, Rory Lamont; Duncan Weir, Chris Cusiter; Jon Welsh, Pat MacArthur, Mike Cusack, Richie Gray, Al Kellock (captain), Rob Harley, John Barclay, Ryan Wilson.

Replacements: Dougie Hall, Ryan Grant, Ed Kalman, Tom Ryder, Chris Fusaro, Henry Pyrgos, Troy Nathan, Ruaridh Jackson.

Montpellier: Jean-Baptiste Peyras-Loustalet; Pierre Berard, Paul Bosch, Thomas Combezou, Martin Bustos Moyana; Santiago Fernandez, Eric Escande; Goderdzi Shvelidze, Mickael Ladhuie, Giorgi Jgenti, Joe Tuineau, Drickus Hancke, Vassili Bost, Remy Martin, Alex Tulou.

This article was originally posted on 11-Dec-2011, 15:03 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Russell Sim on 12-Dec-2011, 19:37.