This game at the Scotstoun was predicted to be the tightest of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinals to be played this weekend but Glasgow Warriors had other ideas as they comprehensively outplayed the DHL Stormers 36-18 on Friday night.
Stormers coach John Dobson had said in the buildup that he would be disappointed if his team did not get over the line as winners given the good space his team was in approaching the game as well as the injury disruptions to the hosts.
It was clear he thought he had a plan born out of the lessons learned from four successive Glasgow defeats, and in particular when it came to defensive set-up.
But ultimately he will have to admit that the truest thing he said before the game was that somehow, no matter what the Stormers cook up and what plans they come up with, Glasgow always surprise them and are a step ahead.
Credit then to Glasgow coach Franco Smith for once again weaving his magic over the Cape team, for this was certainly a game where it could be said the Stormers weren’t only outplayed but they were also out-thought and out-coached.
Final 4️⃣, here we come 👊#WhateverItTakes ⚔️🛡️ pic.twitter.com/Lf3y4HlLIL
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) May 30, 2025
Knockout rugby is something completely different 🏆🏉
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 30, 2025
Glasgow Warriors and Franco Smith know what it takes to get results 👇#SSRugby | #VURC pic.twitter.com/r8sUcGOuiO
The first five minutes showed some promise for the Stormers, and it was indeed a fact that the Stormers, who enjoyed a marked scrum dominance in the first half, were for a long time also the team that had the better of the territory and possession battle.
But unfortunately for the Stormers this was a return to the game against Connacht, where the Stormers won because of their attacking game but nearly gave it away with their inept defence.
Well there was a difference this time, for their attacking game was far from on point too.
GLASGOW MADE HEAPS OF GROUND WITH BALL IN HAND
After Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu put his team 3-0 ahead after six minutes by converting a penalty in front of the posts, it quickly became evident that the champions were going to make heaps of ground every time they touched the ball.
Flyhalf Tom Jordan in particular scythed through the Stormers almost at will, and it was from there that Glasgow picked up their momentum and laid the platform for their advance to next week’s semifinal.
The Stormers weren’t helped by skipper Salmaan Moerat going off early in the game for an HIA assessment that he failed.
Part of Dobson’s plan was to have a second tight five come on bomb squad style in the second half, and that was scotched by Moerat’s early departure as it meant JD Schickerling was introduced long before it was intended.
There was also an element of bad luck for the Stormers in the first Glasgow try as it looked like there was an obstruction in the move that led to wing Seabelo Senatla being yellow carded and it was from the resultant penalty that Glasgow set up the attacking lineout from which they cleverly duped the Stormers by putting Rory Darge through a hole for the first five pointer.
Darge was magnificent both as a carrier and on defence and it said something for his contribution that he was the official man of the match after a game where the Glasgow backs broke through the Stormers with such seeming impunity.
Glasgow managed to find space throughout the game when they had the ball in their possession but it was even more marked while Senatla was in the bin and the Stormers were down to 14 men, and when Kyle Rowe ran onto a kick ahead to score out on the left it was a try that appeared to come oh so easily for the home team.
HOME TEAM’S DEFENCE WAS HUGE TOO
The Stormers did fight back after that through another penalty from Feinberg-Mngomezulu and then Senatla ran onto a hoisted free kick from Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Glasgow made a rare mistake by failing to pick up and the wing kicked through to score under the posts.
At 14-13 down the Stormers were back in the game with 26 minutes gone, but they conceded a penalty at the restart and this time it was the Glasgow maul that made it look easy as No8 Henco Venter swivelled over in the right corner.
The Stormers spent much of the remaining 10 minutes of the half on attack, and it was a crucial stage of the game in the sense that a try then, and they did come close on several occasions, would have been a huge psychological boost.
But Glasgow had what the Stormers didn’t have on the night - a committed, organised and determined defence.
They resisted the best efforts of the Stormers and then at the close of the half it was just some desperate scrambling defence from the Stormers that prevented Glasgow from adding a fourth try as the Stormers repeated another failure of theirs in the game which was poorly executed and wrongly directed field kicking.
Glasgow led 19-14 at halftime but frankly that scoreline flattered the Stormers, with perhaps the most telling statistic of the half being that Glasgow made nine line breaks against just one from the Stormers.
That suggested that Glasgow were well on top and it was a matter of time before they put the game away, and so it proved, but not before the Stormers scored a good try to Senatla, with Feinberg-Mngomezulu executing an interplay from a scrum with Manie Libbok, who was on for Dan du Plessis who left the field injured, setting it up.
It felt quite bizarre that had Feinberg-Mngomezulu nailed the angled conversion the Stormers would have gone into the lead.
It just felt like Glasgow were so much better than them on the night.
But that try was a rare moment in the game where the Stormers showed the attacking prowess they are so renowned for.
In truth, this was a night all about Glasgow and their attacking, and when Jordan slipped through the Stormers defence again to put Rowe in for his second try there was daylight between the teams on the scoreboard it was clear there was no way back for the South Africans.
Are you not entertained? pic.twitter.com/iyHSibE87B
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) May 30, 2025
The Stormers managed 66 per cent possession and a similar statistic when it came to territory in the game yet the telling statistic was that they missed a phenomenal 39 tackles.
It goes without saying that’s just not good enough.
SCORES
Glasgow Warriors 36 - Tries: Rory Darge, Kyle Rowe 2, Henco Venter and George Horn; Conversions: George Horn 4; Penalty: George Horn.
DHL Stormers 18 - Tries: Seabelo Senatla 2; Conversion: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu; Penalties: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2.