No.8 Ryan Wilson scored two tries before going off injured as Glasgow Warriors all but extinguished Cardiff Blues’ RaboDirect play-off hopes while strengthening their own in a resounding 31-3 victory. The victory was based on their power up front and their offloading game as Wilson crossed in a first half they dominated. After Wilson got his second five minutes after half-time, his fellow back-rower Chris Fusaro touched down with fly-half Duncan Weir kicking nine points with the boot. With two minutes remaining Colin Shaw grabbed the all-important bonus point try to re-establish the Warriors’ grip on the top-four berth and means they have lost just once in the league since October. In a highly attritional match, Glasgow centre Graeme Morrison joined Wilson and John Barclay in the Warriors medical department while the Blues lost Wales centre Jamie Roberts, making his first start in the RaboDirect PRO12 this season, to a knee injury. Morrison departed after just four minutes in a slightly scrappy opening in which both teams struggled to find their rhythm. However the Warriors were starting to get gain the ascendancy in the scrum and on 15minutes they should really have gone head when Alex Dunbar made a good initial break but Shaw failed to gather Weir’s pass with the tryline begging. It proved to be a temporary reprieve as the Blues were turned over on their own scrum on the 3m line and Wilson barged his way through three visitors to ground the ball with the blessing of the TMO. The Warriors were now sensing blood and good lineout ball allowed Shaw to make a break before feeding Stuart Hogg who just failed to get his offload away. They wasted an even better chance on the half-hour mark when Fusaro contrived to waste a two-on-one opportunity although they did have the consolation of a penalty which Weir kicked to make it 10-0. That’s the way it stayed until half-time with Weir missing with another penalty and drop-goal attempt while Leigh Halfpenny, whose kicking had been so good during the Six Nations, was horribly off target with his first attempt. Any frustration Warriors coach Sean Lineen felt at wasted opportunities soon evaporated when Wilson barged through Halfpenny’s tackle after Glasgow had patiently gone through the phases. Weir converted. Halfpenny did get the Blues on the board with a penalty before the game was held up for injuries to Roberts and Wilson, both suffering knee injuries. The disruption did not affect the Warriors however as the impressive Dunbar sliced his way through before offloading to Fusaro who gleefully dived over to make amends for his first-half error. Weir again converted. Although the tempo of the game slowed down in the final quarter, the Warriors were able to create the fourth try the crowd craved when Dunbar made the initial break. The young centre fed scrum-half Chris Cusiter and he timed his pass for Shaw to have a run-in under the posts. Ruaridh Jackson converted to round off a disappointing night for the Blues.
