Glasgow 23-7 Racing 92: Warriors thrash sorry Racing at Scotstoun
Last Updated: 16/12/16 10:04pm
Glasgow secured a European Champions Cup double over Racing 92 with an impressive 23-7 victory over last year's runners-up at Scotstoun.
Tries from Josh Strauss, Fraser Brown and Ali Price sent Glasgow top of Pool 1 with their third win in four matches, although Munster will return to the summit on Saturday if they maintain their perfect record against Leicester.
The French champions could not live with the tempo and variety of Glasgow's attacking play, and were 23 points behind after 46 minutes before they began to have any kind of forward momentum.
Even then Warriors withstood the serious physical challenge, and some desperate defending maintained their clean sheet until the 79th minute.
The visitors were much-changed following their 23-14 defeat by Glasgow in Paris last weekend, but Warriors only made one enforced switch; Simone Favaro dropped out with a shoulder injury and Strauss came in at No 8 for his 100th Warriors appearance.
Racing saw a good early opening foiled by a forward pass but it proved the last time they had the ball in the Glasgow 22 for almost 40 minutes.
Warriors quickly got on top and Finn Russell's kick sparked an attack that the visitors could not stop. Tommy Seymour took the ball on and fed Stuart Hogg whose inside pass allowed Strauss to cross in the fifth minute.
Russell soon burst through several players but did not play the pass when he had his chance. However, Glasgow did not have to wait long for their second try and it was Russell who was the creator again, releasing Brown to force himself over inside 13 minutes.
Russell this time added the conversion and Glasgow continued their onslaught.
Racing held out amid some sustained pressure just in front of the try line, with Hogg stopped a metre out, but Glasgow had a penalty waiting for them and Russell extended the lead to 15 points.
Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend had described the revamped French pack as "probably the biggest ever assembled" but the hosts were dominating them and they moved further ahead when Russell notched an easy penalty after the visiting scrum collapsed.
Racing were denied a stoppage-time try when Seymour held up Brice Dulin right in the corner after Dan Carter's kick threatened to give the visitors a scarcely-deserved score.
Warriors continued their domination after the interval and Price crossed after a clever dummy gave the scrum-half the chance to squeeze between two opponents.
Racing finally found their attacking game but Warriors survived three times when the visitors looked set to touch down during a sustained spell of pressure.
Townsend's side gradually pushed the game up the park but they continued to defend and finally conceded with 60 seconds left when Xavier Chauveau went over near the corner.
