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Glasgow stun Bulls at Loftus in second-half masterclass to win 2024 URC title

Glasgow stun Bulls at Loftus in second-half masterclass to win 2024 URC title
Glasgow centre Sione Tuipulotu breaks a tackle during the United Rugby Championship final against the Bulls at Loftus. (Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images)
The Glasgow Warriors came back from 13-0 down to win the 2024 United Rugby Championship (URC) with a 21-16 final win over the Bulls at Loftus.

There will be platitudes about “learnings” from the Bulls camp in the coming days but the reality is that they fell apart at their home ground in front of more than 50,000 fans. 

Despite Glasgow dominating the second half, Bulls coach Jake White only went to the bulk of his bench in the final 10 minutes, despite witnessing nearly half an hour of sapping defence from his men. 

The Bulls were so dominant in the first half it was a surprise they weren’t further ahead than 13-0 as the half neared its end. The fact Glasgow scored on halftime, against the run of play, was a huge momentum shifter. 

There were also some poor mistakes from the Bulls in the dying minutes of the match when they had a chance to still sneak a win despite being rocked back for the better part of 40 minutes.

Flyhalf Johan Goosen hoofed a penalty over the dead ball line instead of finding touch and a huge opportunity was missed. 

Even if he had found touch though, the Bulls maul was stopped time and time again by Glasgow’s superb defence, so there was no guarantee the outcome would have been different. 

And then, in the last minute, the Bulls were awarded another penalty. It was in the midfield just inside Glasgow’s 22 with the visitors down to 14-men with flyhalf Tom Jordan in the sin bin for a dangerous tackle. 

Given that they were getting no joy from the lineout maul, it was a gilt-edged chance for the Bulls to go for a scrum, with the Warriors a man down in the backline. But the Bulls went for touch again. And again they were unable to splinter the Glasgow defence from the ensuing rolling maul. 

The heroic Scottish forwards held the Bulls at bay for the umpteenth time in the match to seal a famous win. 

Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn was a constant threat with the ball in hand as his side pulled off a sensational 21-16 URC final win over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld. (Photo: Gordon Arons / Gallo Images)



Glasgow looseforward Rory Darge carries into contact. (Photo: Gordon Arons / Gallo Images)



Glasgow centre Sione Tuipulotu breaks a tackle during the United Rugby Championship final against the Bulls at Loftus. (Photo: Gordon Arons / Gallo Images)


Third winners 


Glasgow became the third different URC champions in its third season following Munster and the Stormers. Franco Smith’s team also had to do it the hard way, winning their semifinal away to Munster before toppling the Bulls at their Loftus fortress. 

While the outcome will sting for the Bulls, especially after their sensational 25-20 win over Leinster in the semifinal, Glasgow’s victory is a boost for the tournament and for Scottish rugby. 

Glasgow lived up to their title of “Warriors” with a spectacular display from just before halftime until the end of the match after appearing to be out of the contest at 13-0 down inside 25 minutes. 

The visitors were full value for their victory with three tries to the one of the Bulls as they found deep wells of resolve on the highveld to stun the pre-match favourites. 

A try on the stroke of halftime for Glasgow, scored by lock Scott Cummings from their titanium rolling maul, shifted the momentum the way of the Scots. 

That narrowed the deficit to 13-7 at halftime after Marco van Staden scored a try and Johan Goosen converted and landed two penalties to give the Bulls a good lead. 

After halftime, it was all Glasgow as they took the game to the Bulls. They dominated possession and territory in the second half, starving the home team of the ball. 

From that base, dangerous runners such as fullback Josh McKay, wing and captain Kyle Steyn and centre Sione Tuipulotu broke the line regularly. 

The Bulls scrambled on defence but they were always on the edge and started conceding a slew of penalties. They also missed 37 tackles in all, underlining how stressed they were.

Eventually, replacement Warriors hooker George Turner burrowed over from a rolling maul to narrow the deficit to two points after Goosen had added a penalty against the run of play.

Centre Huw Jones then scored what proved to be the winner on 63 minutes when he sniped in and scrumhalf George Horne landed his third conversion.

Scorers:


Bulls – Try: Marco van Staden. Conversion: Johan Goosen. Penalties: Goosen (3).

Glasgow – Tries: Scott Cummings, George Turner, Huw Jones. Conversions: George Horne (3).