Round-Up: Weir shines as Glasgow claim crucial home victory

Glasgow’s Federico Aramburu celebrates scoring their only try in the win over Montpellier (PA)

Glasgow Warriors ground out a 20-15 win over Montpellier yesterday, meaning the Scottish side have now won six of the last seven Heineken Cup games at home. Rory Lamont also made his first appearance since re-signing for Glasgow; the Scot left the Warriors in 2007 but has returned following an unsuccessful spell with Toulon to boost his chances of international selection.

Tempers flared in cold conditions at Firhill with three players sent to the sin-bin inside the first half - two for Montpellier and one for Glasgow. With Jon Welsh off for persistent fouling, Montpellier made their extra man count when Eric Escande cleverly broke from the base of the scrum to touch down under the posts. It was through the boot of Duncan Weir that Glasgow got a foothold in the match, and held a narrow 12-10 advantage at the break.

A similarly scrappy second period ensued before a slick backs move ended in Federico Aramburu touching down in the corner with six minutes left. The French side rallied late on to earn a losing bonus point courtesy of a Sakiusa Matadigo try and will host the return fixture next week.

The Northampton head coach, Jim Mallinder, has admitted that his side are now "playing for pride" after Saturday's 41-22 defeat to Castres dumped them out of the tournament, with his young team struggling to replace suspended backs Chris Ashton and Phil Dowson. Last year's beaten finalists also had Stephen Myler and Tom Wood sent to the sin-bin, something that Mallinder took exception to. He said: "I don't want to question the referees but we have had the same problem against Munster, we just aren't getting the decisions at the moment."

Toby Booth, the London Irish coach, spoke of his delight after his side's second-half 34-14 comeback at Racing Metro on Saturday. He said: "I couldn't have asked for more, both in terms of the result and the performance. It's shown our very young side that we can compete with the best." Having trailed 14-3, the London club went on to score four tries, including two from Adam Thompstone to claim a bonus point.