Kyle Steyn starred as the Glasgow Warriors clinched a convincing 50-20 victory over Ulster in their Pro14 semi-final on Friday.
The Warriors had received a timely boost before the game with the news that legendary wing DTH van der Merwe had recovered from shoulder surgery four weeks ahead of schedule, and coach Dave Rennie fast-tracked him straight into the starting lineup.
But it was former Griquas representative Steyn who impressed during the hosts’ total domination of Ulster. The outside centre scored one of his side’s seven tries.
Despite being on wrong side of the result, Ulster’s Marcell Coetzee and Rob Herring performed admirably, both scoring late tries.
The Warriors were in control of this contest from the outset and ran in three unanswered tries, coupled with a penalty to lead 24-3 at the break. Ulster had to answer to Glasgow’s absolute dominance and conceded a further three tries to the hosts.
In late show of defiance, Ulster grabbed three tries of their own in the final quarter of the match to at least get their score into double figures.
The result means Glasgow have now qualified for their third-ever final, where they’ll meet the winners of the second semi-final between Leinster and Munster.
WE’RE IN THE FINAL!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/PkVnPAorOd
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) May 17, 2019
Glasgow Warriors – Tries: Tommy Seymour (2), Ali Price, Rob Harley, Kyle Steyn, Peter Horne, George Horne. Conversions: Adam Hastings (6). Penalty: Hastings.
Ulster – Tries: Marcell Coetzee, Rob Herring, Michael Lowry. Conversion: Billy Burns. Penalty: John Cooney.
Glasgow Warriors – 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Kyle Steyn, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (c), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Subs: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Ryan Wilson, 20 Tom Gordon, 21 George Horne, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Huw Jones.
Ulster – 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Louis Ludik, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Nick Timoney, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Ross Kane, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Subs: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Michael Lowry, 23 Darren Cave.
Photo: Getty Images
