Centre Huw Jones was the key as Glasgow Warriors defeated RC Toulon 29-5 to qualify for the Investec Champions Cup Round of 16.
It was a special night at Scotstoun Stadium, as the crowd saw the hosts cross five times, two apiece for Jones and wing Kyle Rowe, against the club that defeated them in last year’s EPCR Challenge Cup final.
Scrum-half George Horne added two conversions, as the TOP14 club were knocked out of the competition.
RC Toulon’s best chance in the first period came early, with centre Mathieu Smaili sending a penalty wide in the tenth minute.
In the end, the TOP14 club did not register a single point in the first period as Jones produced an inspired performance to twice cut RC Toulon open, the first time laying the ball off for Rowe and the second time scoring himself after running a perfectly plotted line.
Horne kicked one set of extras, and Glasgow Warriors felt confident running in at the break 12-0 up.
The second half did not start the way in which the hosts wanted, however, as wing Gaël Drean went over in the corner, replacement Enzo Herve missing from the tee to give Glasgow Warriors some reprieve.
But RC Toulon’s hopes of a comeback were spurned when Josh McKay got his try, hooker Johnny Matthews taking an unorthodox role as he spread the ball out wide for the full-back, Horne adding the extras to send the hosts 14 points clear.
Jones then put the icing on the cake of his performance as he grabbed Glasgow Warriors’ fourth, bonus-point-sealing score with another special run, departing the field to universal applause.
The try looked as if it would be the final score of the game, but Glasgow Warriors’ confidence was sky-high and despite having the chance to kick the ball out with the clock in the red, they held onto it, and gained another five points with Rowe’s second cross.
With RC Toulon now out, they will have to wait until Aviron Bayonnais’ game against Exeter Chiefs to find out if they will have a chance to defend their EPCR Challenge Cup title.
Scorers:
Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Kyle Rowe(2), Huw Jones (2), Josh McKay. Conversions: George Horne (2).
RC Toulon: Try: Gaël Drean.
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (c), 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti. Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Stafford McDowall.
RC Toulon: 15 Aymeric Luc, 14 Gaël Drean, 13 Setariki Tuicuvu, 12 Mathieu Smaili, 11 Gabin Villiere, 10 Jérémy Sinzelle, 9 Vaso Lobzhanidze, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Matteo le Corvec, 6 Jules Coulon, 5 Adrien Warion, 4 Swan Rebbadj, 3 Emerick Setiano, 2 Teddy Baubigny (c), 1 Bruce Devaux. Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Fabio Gonzalez, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Matthias Halagahu, 20 Selevasio Tolofua, 21 Jules Danglot, 22 Enzo Herve, 23 Maelan Rabut.