Glasgow Warriors climb up to second after breezing to victory against Dragons

Scrum-half Ben Afshar scored on his first professional start as Glasgow recorded a 40-7 bonus-point victory over the Dragons.

Warriors led from the 30-second mark as both Josh McKay and Stafford McDowall claimed the first of their two tries in the opening four minutes.

Facundo Cordero also notched a try on a personal milestone as he made his long-awaited debut, while Will Reed claimed a consolation try for the visitors at Scotstoun.

There was little doubt about the outcome from the opening moments as Warriors moved into second place in the BKT United Rugby Championship table.

Full-back McKay took a high ball on the 40-metre line, wriggled through some bodies and side-stepped two Dragons players to cross. Ross Thompson added the first of his four conversions.

Franco Smith’s side soon got their second try after hooker Jonny Matthews won the ball from the Dragons’ line-out. The hosts worked the ball to McDowall, who charged through.

The skipper was soon contributing at the other end as he held the ball up when the Welsh side’s pack crossed.

Much of the first half was scrappy, but Glasgow put the game beyond doubt just before the interval when McDowall broke the lines and passed outside to McKay to cross.

The home side repelled some early second-half pressure before securing the bonus point inside four minutes of the restart. Henco Venter, Jamie Dobie and then Tom Jordan all made ground and Scotland Under-20 international Afshar kept up with play to accept the pass and go over.

Matthew Screech touched down at the other end, but Dan Lydiate was penalised for obstruction and the try was disallowed on video evidence.

Dragons eventually got some reward for their sporadic spells of pressure when replacement Reed wriggled over after taking a quick pass from Angus O’Brien, who added the conversion.

But the score only served to spark a strong finish from the home side.

A slick move ended with Duncan Weir playing a long pass out to the right wing for former Exeter player Cordero to go over.

Scotland centre McDowall capped an impressive display by crossing for the second time with five minutes left before Weir rounded off the scoring with his boot.

BKT United Rugby Championship Play of the Match

There appeared little danger when Josh McKay, for some reason wearing a pair of Everton socks, collected a high ball 40 metres out. The full-back wriggled his way through a ruck of bodies and ran at the visitors, stepping inside two opponents to cross and set the tone for the night.

BKT United Rugby Championship Player of the Match

Stafford McDowall showed his importance all over the pitch after the Scotland centre was released from international duty to skipper the Warriors. McDowall's pace and power was evident as he crossed twice and he saved a certain try when he held up the ball early on.