“That’s the only negative,” he continued. “Always at the start of a season, one or two things can go wrong, but I thought we played really, really well. The tries that were chalked off are definitely something I want to go and have a look at again, because that could have changed the momentum of the game even more.

“I thought the second one that Johnny Matthews didn’t score could have just as easily been a yellow card and penalty try. I thought their 9 joined from the side which caused Johnny to think it was going to be a penalty try anyway so he could just have a go, and fell short.  But I’m not complaining at all. I’m really grateful for the way that we solved problems and the way we applied ourselves.”

Asked to elaborate on the Dempsey injury, Smth said: “These men work so hard on their recovery process to get back on the field. It’s the same with Zander [Fagerson]. It sometimes happens that you aggravate something else in the process. He didn’t have any problem regarding anything before we ran out. It happened in the warm-up. We’ll see. We’ll see how serious it is.

“It’s a completely different thing [to the hamstring injury]. He’s had some big injuries for long periods in his life before. But he managed to claw his way back from a mental and physical perspective. He worked so hard, even during the off-season, to be ready for the start. And he was. He’s in good physical condition. So it’s understandable, more than understandable that he’s a bit disappointed.”

On Darge, he said: “It’s just his knee. We’ll see. But it’s just a bump or a bruise. We’re not sure. But I brought him off as a precaution”

It was typical early season stuff, featuring some impressive flashes of skill and no little intent, but also a fair few blunders as both team settled into the game.

There was a big early turnover when 20-year-old debutant Kerr Yule delivered a thumping tackle on Francois Venter and Ollie Smith got over the ball to win the penalty, but Warriors then lost the line-out when the throw didn’t reach Jare Oruntibeju, which is kind of the way the whole game panned out.

When Glasgow did eventually manage to gather clean line-out ball at the third time of asking (after kicking an offside penalty to just five yards from the Sharks line), Oruntibeju was perhaps a touch over-eager in attempting to dive over the top of the ruck and an obstruction penalty was given against his team – and the visitors broke all the way to the home 22 off the quick tap penalty.

It was from that field position that Sharks took the lead with Edwill Van Der Merwe scurrying over and the TMO required to rule that Ollie Smith had not quite managed to get between the ball and the turf with his desperate last-gasp tackle.

Warriors bounced back in quick order, with their own period of pressure eventually creating the space Kyle Rowe needed on the right to outstrip the last man, and Horne’s successful conversion put his team two points ahead after 14 minutes of action.

Warriors thought they had scored again on 21 minutes, this time through their line-out maul, only for referee Craig Evans to belatedly decide to take a closer look and agree with the TMO’s assesment that there had been an obstruction by Fin Richardson. If that was frustrating for hooker Johnny Matthews, who thought he had scored his 49th try for Warriors in just his 47th start, then it got a whole lot worse just a few minutes later when he once again got over the line form a line-out maul but this time was forced by a Sharks hand into fumbling the ball in the act of grounding, with the TMO once again required to make the final call.

Eventually, with just over half an hour played, that second try arrived. Rowe made good ground on the right, the ball was swung left for Euan Ferrie and Jamie Bhatti to both go close, Matt Fagerson got even closer, before skipper Stafford McDowall added the crucial final six inches.

But is was the visitors who had the final say of the half, with No 8 and skipper Vincent Tshituka powering over and Jaden Hendrikse adding the conversion to make it a two-point game at the break.

Warriors seemed more settled at the start of the second half, and after a patient period of possession inside the Sharks half, they struck again through Rory Darge via that line-out maul.

But still they couldn’t shake Sharks off, and Warriors spent the next 10 minutes hemmed into their own half before eventually conceding a third try, scored by former Springbok skipper Lukhanyo Am,  who first of all picked out Van Der Merwe with an inch-perfect kick and then followed up to collect the inside pass from his winger for a powerful finish.

The game really needed a moment of inspiration to liven things up, and it felt like whoever managed that would go on to take the points. In the event, it was Jamie Dobie who provided the decisive intervention, somehow escaping up the edge of a ruck in the middle of the park and then streaking under the posts following a neat one-two exchange of passes with Horne.

A 77th minute penalty try for Warriors after Sharks had resorted to nefarious means to prevent another line-out maul reaching the scoring zone confirmed the home win.

 

Teams –

Glasgow Warriors: J McKay; K Rowe, S McDowall, K Yule (J Dobie 56), O Smith; D Lancaster (A Hastings 9-14, 70), G Horne; J Bhatti (R Sutherland 50), J Matthews (G Hiddleston 56), F Richardson (S Talakai 50), J Oruntibeju (S Cummings 50), A Samuel (G Brown, 50), E Ferrie, R Darge (M Williamson 67), M Fagerson.

Hollywoodbets Sharks: Y Penxe; E Van Der Merwe, L Am, F Venter, C Grobbelaar (B Hlekani, 78); J Hendrikse, R Braude (J Smith 67); S Matanzima (D Bleuler 57), F Mbatha (E Swart 57), R Dreyer (L Mazibuko 57), D Slabbert (B Hlekani 52), M Orie, P Buthelezi (T Mavesere 71), E Tshituka (N Hatton 63), V Tshituka (R Dreyer 81).

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)

 

Scorers –

Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Rowe, McDowell, Darge, Dobie, Penalty Try; Cons: Horne 4.

Hollywoodbets Sharks: Tries: Van Der Merwe, V Tshituka, Am; Con: Hendrikse 2;

Scoring sequence (Glasgow Warriors first): 0-5; 5-5; 7-5; 12-5; 14-5 14-10; 14-12 (h-t) 19-12; 21-12; 21-17; 21-19; 26-19; 28-19; 35-19.

 

Yellow cards –

Sharks: Mavesere (75 mins)

 

Attendance: 6,775