Warriors hang on to go second

Glasgow Warriors made it two wins from two to start the season, but this time with a much bigger margin, defeating Cardiff Blues 33-12 in their Pro12 encounter at the Cardiff Arms Park.

Two tries from replacement scrumhalf Niko Matawalu, added to Sean Lamont's breakaway score, saw the Warriors pull away from Cardiff, for who Rhys Patchell kicked four penalties.

Duncan Weir and Henry Pyrgos also added two penalties each, with three conversions spread between them as well, as Glasgow continue their unbeaten start to the season after round one's 22-20 win over Leinster.

Patchell continued the form with the boot that he showed last week by slotting over his first penalty attempt of the game in the fourth minute to give Cardiff the early lead.

Dan Fish then almost intercepted a Warriors pass near his own five-metre line as Glasgow piled on the pressure. The Blues winger couldn't quite get his hand around the ball as he cut into the line of the pass and conceded a knock-on.

Glasgow continued to attack and won a comfortable penalty which Pyrgos kicked with ease, repeating the feat two minutes later.

Pyrgos' quick line-out to himself on the Glasgow five-metre line looked to backfire when he was tackled immediately as he caught it, but the recycled ball ended up with Mark Bennett and Tommy Seymour sprinting down the right wing, although Seymour's offload inside was just behind his running mate.

Patchell levelled the score before the 20-minute mark after Chris Fusaro was penalised at the ruck.

And the cheap penalties became a feature of the Warriors game, nullifying a number of promising attacks including one deep within the Cardiff 22 after a line break by Alex Dunbar.

No-one could have anticipated the Warriors first-half try, with Chris Fusaro and Alex Allan prising the ball from the Cardiff attacker's arms, which Lamont picked up and galloped away down the touchline.

A smart side-step by the big Scot was enough to send Patchell tumbling to the ground and Lamont touched down in the corner; Pyrgos converting the try.

Fusaro was again the culprit when referee John Lacey awarded Cardiff a penalty on the right-hand side, but the flanker was forgiven when Patchell hooked his kick wide, sending Cardiff into the break seven points down.

Peter Murchie was alert in the opening minutes of the second half, reacting quickest when Gavin Evans' prod to the corner bounced off the flag and rested in the end zone.

Murchie dived on the ball ahead of the on-rushing Alex Cuthbert to secure the 22-yard dropout.

Five minutes later Patchell repeated his remarkable feat of last week, smashing a penalty kick from inside his own half right through the uprights to cut the deficit to four points - something he attempted once again two minutes later but to less success.

Replacement front-row Gordon Reid was shown a yellow card on 55 minutes, adding more problems to the Glasgow scrum and Patchell knocked home the penalty.

But Glasgow responded well, with Matawalu stealing away down the right and diving into the corner for the try, which British & Irish Lion Stuart Hogg converted.

Hogg added two more penalties to push the Warriors further away before Matawalu added his second try of the match, finishing off a flowing attacking move down the left.

The Warriors still had cause to attack, with the attraction of a bonus point for one more try, but the Blues defence held firm as they searched for a way back in themselves.

The scorers:

For Cardiff Blues:

Pens: Patchell 4

For Glasgow Warriors:

Tries: Lamont, Matawalu 2

Cons: Pyrgos, Weir 2

Pens: Pyrgos 2, Weir 2

Yellow card: Gordon Reid Glasgow warriors, 55)

Teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Adam Thomas, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Dan Fish, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees (captain), 1 Sam Hobbs.

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Taufa'ao Filise, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Richard Smith.

Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Josh Strauss (captain), 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Alex Allan.

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 James Eddie, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 DTH van der Merwe.

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Jon Mason (Wales)

TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)