Glasgow Warriors allowed to eat pizza but Franco Smith still not completely satisfied

It seems hard to grumble too much about a seven-try, bonus point win against the team that finished rock bottom of the URC last season.

It is Smith’s job, however, to drive standards, meaning he was always going to be frustrated with a first-half performance that produced two tries but also a lot of missed opportunities and directionless huffing and puffing.

Even a side as limited as Dragons were able to contain their hosts beyond those two scores, while threatening sporadically to get on the board themselves.

There was a noticeable upturn in intensity and tempo in the second period and the floodgates duly opened as Warriors ran in a further five scores to underline their dominance.

There was, surprisingly, a first ever career try for Gregor Brown, while Johnny Matthews came off the bench with the Dragons’ fire fully doused to mark his 100th appearance with a close-range score.

There were also two tries for all-time leading scorer George Horne – the second sealed with a flamboyant dive – while Kyle Steyn and Gregor Hiddleston also crossed.

The final act was a penalty try after Jamie Dobie was stopped illegally by Dragons replacement Rio Dyer who was shown a yellow card just as the final whistle sounded.

Glasgow bounce back from sore defeat

It was the ideal way for Glasgow to bounce back from their disappointing defeat to Benetton the previous weekend but Smith, as always, was left frustrated by the fact that it had taken time for his side to get fully up to speed.

“We just didn't get going for whatever reasons but I think the second half was better and we saw a good reaction after the halftime chat,” said the head coach.

“It was about upping the intensity a little bit, making sure that we shortened the stop-start period. Once the whistle goes, it took a very long time for play to start again. I felt we should get more game time, more ball in play by upping the tempo a little bit.

"Obviously, I felt there was not enough urgency and intention from us. We had to give more and I think that is what we've seen in the end. We came out of the changing room much better.”

The earlier than usual kick-off meant this was an unofficial family night at Scotstoun with many of the players bringing their children to the match. Smith was at pains to say it wasn’t a distraction but wondered if the creche feel to things perhaps contributed to a sluggish start.

“It’s family day and it’s fantastic and it’s good to have all the children out there but I think it slowed us down a little bit in the beginning from a mentality perspective,” he added. “We have to switch on a little bit better.”

Brown’s star continues to rise. On the back of his cameo appearance at the tail end of the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, this was a man-of-the-match display that included a back-door off-load for Horne’s first try and then his own big moment when he fastened onto Euan Ferrie’s pass before powering his way to the line.

Smith lauds Brown’s display

“I definitely think he gets better the more he plays,” confirmed Smith. “He's been unfortunate once or twice with injury and that interrupted the progression. I think the time on the pitch in a game environment helps a lot with his progression. Some players are just like that.

“Others need more time away but I think he's been doing well when he plays. I'm very pleased and proud of him. He's taken the role as a lock on and he made a success of it.

“He can easily revert back to six so he's becoming a hybrid. He's got some special ingredients there in his play to make him valuable to the team.”

It was former defence coach Pete Murchie who introduced pizza as a reward for the players for when they shut out the opposition. Smith expects the local takeaway will be getting a call later this week.

“Pete has left that legacy behind I think,” added the South African. “I don’t know if it was a tradition in the earlier years. But since I got here, whenever this has happened, one of the lunches becomes a pizza. It's just something to say thank you to the boys for going the extra mile.”