The climax of the season for the University Rugby Club ended in disappointment after the team was crushed by Strathclyde. Despite high hopes, Glasgow were outclassed by their old rivals and slumped to a disastrous 13-5 defeat in the much anticipated Varsity Cup Match at Old Anniesland. Hosted by professional first division side Glasgow Hawks, the first annual cup match of its kind saw Glasgow keen to crown what has been a highly successful season and eager to build on their recent impressive display in the BUSA shield.
However, from the opening minutes, their opponents took an early advantage with ambitious creativity in the midfield. Intricate passing caught Glasgow off guard by making breaks down the right wing, highlighting early weaknesses in their defence. Despite Strathclyde’s evident advantage in the air from line-outs, Glasgow counteracted this with their weight in the scrum, breaking the deadlock after 15 minutes with a driving effort that allowed prop Chris Jones to ground the ball deep in the left flank with out-half Philip Cartmill’s conversion sailing wide of the mark.
Just as the home side were settling into their stride, Strathclyde forced errors from their rivals to get their first three points on the board through a well executed penalty.
The visitors continued to show blistering pace and were aided by further handling errors by Glasgow’s backline. Strathclyde’s stand off was given ample space to weave through an increasingly precarious midfield with evident ease and touched down just left of the uprights. The visitors, however, were unable to convert to further their lead. This turned out to be a frequent occurrence as they failed to capitalise on numerous set pieces.
Despite the deficit, Glasgow managed to regain some control, anchoring play in the centre. The Glasgow side’s back row piled pressure on Strathclyde’s playmakers to keep the score-line within touching distance as the game approached the half time whistle.
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The second half saw tensions flare with several dubious tackles as Strathclyde continued to frustrate Glasgow’s now crumbling defence, providing numerous potential breaks for their rivals. Strathclyde's dominance was emphasised throughout as their control of the majority of the possession and territory put Glasgow on the back foot. The closing stages saw the home side barely threaten the Strathclyde half and were unable to reply to mounting pressure from their opponent’s formidable forwards. The visitors’ persistence eventually paid off from a driving scrum that resulted in a deceptively simple try to guarantee the spoils and first blood in the clash of the two sporting rivalries and traditions.
After the game, team coach Alastair Lyal touched on Glasgow’s poor performance in the second half.
He said: “You could argue that they were trying to play it too fast and could have controlled the game a bit more and slowed the game down a bit.”
Club captain Alexander Purdie echoed his team’s errors but was in high spirits.
He said: “I think we let ourselves down a little bit, we gave away too many penalties, made too many simple mistakes but apart from that, the boys worked really hard and did us proud. Everyone played really well, the forwards put in a pretty good effort.”
Mr Purdie also noted Glasgow’s track record against their rivals: “We played Strathclyde three times already and we won every game and it’s the biggest one we have to lose!”
By Suzi Higton
Glasgow 3 –15 Strathclyde
