Glasgow secure bonus-point victory over spirited Dragons at Rodney Parade

Glasgow made it seven wins from their last eight visits to Rodney Parade with a comfortable bonus-point victory over Dragons on Sunday afternoon.

The spirited hosts competed for large parts but were beaten 45-20 – their 10th defeat in 11 league outings keeping them rooted to the bottom of the United Rugby Championship table.

Seven tries

Glasgow, buoyed by the release of five players from the Scotland squad, scored seven tries. George Horne registered two of them, Johnny Matthews, Jack Mann, Nathan McBeth, Sebastian Cancelliere and Duncan Weir the others, with Weir adding five conversions.

James Benjamin and Shane Lewis-Hughes scored Dragons’ tries, with Lloyd Evans kicking two penalties and two conversions.

Dragons took a second-minute lead with a straightforward penalty from Evans and their dream start continued when Benjamin crashed over from close range.

It took until the second quarter for the visitors to respond, with Cancelliere dribbling a loose ball to near the hosts’ line where replacement hooker Matthews was on hand to score.

Evans kicked a second penalty but the Warriors were becoming the dominant force and were first rewarded with a try from Mann, who touched down following a succession of forward drives, before Horne quickly added a third.

Double blow

Dragons then suffered a double blow with scrum-half Dane Blacker yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on, but his illegal intervention was not enough to prevent Glasgow collecting their bonus-point try from Weir.

Despite Blacker’s absence, Dragons were able to stay in contention with a close-range try from Lewis-Hughes leaving the home side trailing 24-20 at the interval.

Two minutes after the restart, however, McBeth extended Glasgow’s lead before Horne showed his class to race past a bemused defence for an excellent individual effort.

The outstanding Horne was then replaced before former Wales centre Scott Williams was introduced for a Dragons debut, but it made no difference as a late try from Cancelliere emphasised the Scottish team’s superiority.