Glasgow Warriors 40-7 Dragons: Hosts ease to six-try victory in the United Rugby Championship

Image source, SNS

Image caption, Ben Afshar scored a try on his first professional start

Two tries in the first three minutes set Glasgow Warriors on their way to a bonus-point victory over Dragons in the United Rugby Championship.

Josh McKay raced over for the first try within 30 seconds and he was quickly followed by Stafford McDowall.

Ben Afshar added the third on his first professional start after the break.

Will Reed got the Welsh visitors on the scoreboard, but debutant Facundo Cordero and McDowall replied to secure a comfortable win.

It moves the hosts up to second place in the URC table, with Dragons second from bottom.

Making a lightning start at Scotstoun, full-back McKay took a high ball on the 40-metre line, wriggled through some bodies and side-stepped two Dragons players to cross, with Ross Thompson adding the first of his four conversions.

Franco Smith's side soon got their second try after hooker Jonny Matthews won the ball from the Dragons' line-out and centre McDowall charged through.

Despite a scrappy first half, Glasgow put the game beyond doubt just before the interval when McDowall broke the lines and passed outside for McKay to cross.

The bonus point was secured inside four minutes of the restart as Scotland Under-20 scrum-half Afshar kept up with play to take a pass and go over.

Lock Matthew Screech touched down at the other end, but Dan Lydiate was penalised for obstruction and the try was disallowed on video evidence.

Dragons eventually got some reward for sporadic spells of pressure when replacement full-back Reed wriggled over after taking a quick pass from Angus O'Brien, who added the conversion.

That only served to spark a strong finish from the home side and a slick move ended with Duncan Weir playing a long pass out to the right wing for former Exeter Chiefs back Cordero to go over.

McDowall capped an impressive display by crossing for the second time with five minutes left before Weir rounded off the scoring with his boot.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith: "I'm really happy with the win and I thought we played some good rugby at times.

"There were a lot of line breaks and opportunities missed, which is understandable - these guys haven't played for quite a bit. Even the last three games, not everyone was involved, so they haven't played since last year, but it's good to have them putting their hands up for responsibility and I thought they did really good."

Glasgow Warriors: McKay; Cordero, McDowall, Jordan, Dobie; Thompson, Afshar; Bhatti, Matthews, Sordoni, Williamson, Samuel, Ferrie, Gordon, Venter.

Replacements: Weir for Thompson (58), McBeth for Bhatti (56), Fraser for Matthews (21), Kebble for Sordoni (56), Hart for Williamson (76), Manjezi for Samuel (56), Hiddleston for Gordon (62). Not Used: Kennedy.

Dragons: C Evans; J Rosser, Hughes, Owen, Andrew; O'Brien, Blacker; R Jones, Benjamin, Coleman, J Davies, Screech, Lonsdale, Young, Lydiate.

Replacements: Reed for C Evans (16), Hope for Blacker (60), Seiuli for R Jones (45), Yendle for Coleman (58), Langton-Cryer for J Davies (61), Coghlan for Young (10), Scarfe for Lydiate (61). Not Used: Westwood.

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU).