Glasgow Warriors fought back from 14 points down at the CorpAcq Stadium to take all five points in the first pool stage clash of the 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup.
Sharks had surged into an early 14-point lead through tries from skipper Ernst van Rhyn and replacement Ollie Davies, but Glasgow brought the lead back to just two at the break and then powered ahead in the second half.
A late Marius Louw try brought Alex Sanderson’s men to within five, but it was too little too late for the home side, who welcomed Ben Curry, WillGriff John and Arron Reed back from injury and gave a debut to Gurshwin Wehr.
It took just three minutes of the first half for Sharks to open the scoring as captain van Rhyn powered over following a series of pick and go’s. A Rob du Preez conversion took the score to 7-0.
That would become 14-0 after 20 minutes as the Sharks backs came to life. Rob du Preez delayed a pass before putting Arron Reed through a gap in the Warriors defence.
The Scotland international slipped it inside to Ollie Davies, who had replaced the injured Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, and the 19 year old finished under the posts.
Warriors were finding it hard to get their attack going, but just past the half hour they got on the scoreboard as hooker Gregor Hiddleston shoved his way over after a five-metre lineout.
Hastings missed the conversion but more points for the visitors weren’t far away.
Sharks infringed from their own lineout five metres from the Warriors line and within minutes they were defending their own whitewash. The pressure told and Hiddleston crashed over for his second.
Hastings converted and the teams headed into half-time separated by just two points – 14-12.
Sharks wanted to start the second half quickly but it was Glasgow struck first. From a misplaced box kick, Warriors skipper Kyle Steyn slalomed his way through a broken Sharks defence to cross under the posts.
Another Hastings conversion made the scored 14-19 and with the lead for the first time, the visitors’ confidence grew. That confidence was rewarded as Stafford McDowall celebrated his 100th Warriors game by powering through some missed tackles to touch down.
Hastings made it 14-26 and suddenly Warriors had daylight.
On the hour mark the Sharks fans got their first sight of new signing Gurshwin Wehr, and the new man almost made an instant impact as he swerved through two tackles before being brought down on the visitors’ 22.
Sharks kept the pressure on and with 66 minutes on the clock, they got back in the game as Marius Louw powered over under the posts. Du Preez landed the conversion and brought the score to 21-26.
There was one final chance for the home side, as they earned a lineout inside the Glasgow 22. But the throw sailed over the Sharks jumpers and the game was gone.
