4th place vs. 5th place, this was a difficult competition to decide as there have been many close and interesting meetings in the past.
The Warriors went undefeated at home all season, while the Stormers finished the regular season with four straight wins.
Glasgow stole a lineout after 10 minutes and excellent handling from the backline opened up the Stormers, but Cancelliere’s final pass was tipped forward by Horne waiting on the tryline.
It was a golden opportunity and the home crowd hoped they would not come back and trouble their side.
As the wind and rain swirled around Scotstoun, Libbok went wide of target with their first penalty attempt, showing Horne how to get Glasgow up and running.
Libbok conceded another penalty as the World Cup-winning fly-half struggled to find his range and get into any sort of flow as the game was fierce yet physically slippery, making handling difficult for both sides.
Horne struck another penalty and the home side were 6-0 up at the break, although they had to endure pressure for a while near their own line.
Glasgow’s Huw Jones closed the gap early in the second half but ignored two support runners on the outside and the move was aborted.
The Stormers were almost non-existent as an attacking force and their cause was not helped when skipper Salmaan Moerat was sin-binned for a head-on collision with Nathan McBeth.
The 14 men were undeterred and slick backline play allowed Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to force Loader into a corner. Libbok failed to convert and Glasgow remained first.
The Stormers’ try galvanized the Warriors and they hit back immediately.
Sione Tuipulotu beat four or five defenders thanks to a thunderous run, before Cancelliere collected an offload and ran to score.
This slow burner in the quarterfinals exploded into life in the final 20.
After a loose lineout on his own five-metre line, replacement scrum-half De Wet caught the Warriors’ fringe defense with a show-and-go and leapt over.
To Libbok’s surprise, a simple diversion, almost slamming in front of the pillar, saw him break off the upright and Glasgow leading by three.
Once again the Glasgow defense was excellent. Tom Jordan’s brilliant run took the Warriors deep into Stormers territory, and after a long, patient, line-pounding play, substitute Venter pushed on.
Thompson sealed Glasgow’s place in the semi-finals with a strong performance in the last 20 with a charge-down kick on the final play.
There they will have the chance to avenge last season’s quarter-final loss to Munster.
