Depleted Dragons suffered misery in Scotland as impressive Glasgow Warriors wrapped up a convincing 40-7 victory in the BKT United Rugby Championship at a soggy Scotstoun Stadium.
The injury hit Men of Gwent went into the game without 21 players – 15 in the treatment room and six away on international duty – but they still suffered a nightmare opening.
Glasgow burst out of the traps with two tries in three minutes to take complete control of the league encounter played in wet conditions.
As the injuries continued to mount – with Wales international Cai Evans forced off after less than 20 minutes – Josh McKay added a second before the break as the Warriors eased away.
Further tries from the Scots saw them pull clear while Will Reed got over the whitewash – after an early effort from Matthew Screech was disallowed – to give Dragons scant consolation.
Dragons made a horror start as Glasgow scored twice inside the opening three minutes to blow apart any hopes of away day success.
McKay rolled out of tackles on halfway and raced home inside a minute and then centre Stafford McDowall arched his run past static men to dot down and leave Dragons shellshocked.
Dragons needed a quick response, and O’Brien forced a mistake from the under-pressure McKay after a low kick through from Dane Blacker.
The forwards rumbled up close via George Young and Dan Lydiate before Chris Coleman was bulldozed over by support men, but the prop was held up by the retreating Warriors.
James Benjamin was forced to switch to the back row after less than ten minutes, with Brodie Coghlan on for a groggy Young.
A penalty saw Glasgow go to the corner and drive up close before another penalty, for pulling the maul down, saw them repeat the feat and send hooker Johnny Matthews close only to knock on.
The injuries continued to pile up with a hobbling Evans forced off and Reed on at fly half, with O’Brien moving to the 15 jersey.
Glasgow were enjoying territory and possession, but were guilty of forcing passes in the wet conditions as Dragons looked to hold firm.
A big scrum from the visitors eased pressure before wing Oli Andrew, on his debut, looked to contest a high cross field kick from O’Brien.
Screech stole lineout ball to frustrate Glasgow as they again looked to attack inside the visiting 22.
The visiting set piece was also showing up well as the forwards secured a scrum penalty before Reed won turnover ball on the floor after Aneurin Owen’s super tackle saved a try.
The home backs, though, were not to be denied just before the break as McDowall found space to break and release McKay for a simple finish and a 21-0 lead in the sheds.
An early kick to the corner set up Dragons to attack, with Coghlan, Hughes and Rhodri Jones all making hard yards before Rosser shot inside with a powerful run.
But as the Gwent men closed in on the line the error saw the chance to strike first after the break disappear.
They were immediately made to pay as more missed tackles allowed home scrum half Ben Afshar an unopposed run in for the bonus point.
Coghlan leapt on loose ball to give Dragons field position, as the hosts were pinged at the breakdown.
The forwards went to work, and patience was crucial as Sean Lonsdale and Lydiate punched holes in a black home wall of defiance before Screech finally crashed through a gap to score.
However, after a lengthy TMO the score was chalked off for obstruction.
Thomas Gordon blew a hole in the visiting defence before Rosser was left in some discomfort in the tackle and became the latest player to be forced off.
Sam Scarfe came on for his debut as Flanagan emptied his bench for the final quarter.
And it worked as Dragons finally got over the line as Che Hope kept the phases ticking over before he picked out O’Brien and he fed the ball inside for Reed to stretch over.
Cardero hit back as he took a floated pass from Weir to touch down out wide before McDowall added a late sixth.
Timeline:
01m McKay t Thompson c 7-0
03m McDowall t Thompson c 14-0
37m McKay t Thompson c 21-0
45m Afshar t Thompson c 28-0
65m Reed t O’Brien c 28-7
70m Cardero t 33-7
75m McDowall t Weir c 40-7
Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay, Facundo Cardero, Stafford McDowall, Tom Jordan, Jamie Dobie, Ross Thompson, Ben Afshar; Jamie Bhatti, Johnny Matthews, Lucio Sordoni, Max Williamson, Alex Samuel, Euan Ferrie, Thomas Gordon, Henco Venter
Replacements: Angus Fraser, Nathan McBeth, Oli Kebble, Ruaraidh Hart, Sintu Manjezi, Gregor Hiddleston, Sean Kennedy, Duncan Weir
Dragons RFC: Cai Evans (Reed 18), Jared Rosser (Westwood 61), Steff Hughes, Aneurin Owen, Oli Andrew, Angus O’Brien, Dane Blacker (Hope 62); Rhodri Jones (Seiuli 46), James Benjamin, Chris Coleman (Yendle 59), Joe Davies (Langton-Cryer 61), Matthew Screech, Sean Lonsdale, George Young (Coghlan 11), Dan Lydiate (Scarfe 61)
Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Aki Seiuli, Luke Yendle, Barny Langton-Cryer, Sam Scarfe, Che Hope, Will Reed, Joe Westwood
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU, 92nd competition game)
