Captain Steyn stars as Glasgow see off Connacht in URC quarterfinal
MATCH REPORT: Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn produced a man-of-the-match performance as his team recorded a 33-21 victory against Connacht in the weekend’s first United Rugby Championship quarterfinal at Scotstoun Stadium.
The South African-born Scotland international scored two of his team’s five tries in an absorbing encounter.
Franco Smith’s side will now host either the Bulls or Munster in the semifinals at Murrayfield in Edinburgh next weekend.
Murrayfield will also be the venue for the Grand Final should Glasgow progress.
The Warriors’ regular home ground will not be available due to the Commonwealth Games.
Connacht threatened early with ball in hand, and they opened the scoring in the fourth minute with Cian Prendergast driving over the tryline.
There was a big response from the hosts, and it came in the form of a try from Patrick Schickerling after sustained pressure from his team.
The visitors were reduced to 14 men in the 14th minute when Sam Illo was shown a yellow for his team’s repeated offside infringements.
A couple of minutes later, Glasgow thought they were ahead after Johnny Matthews found his way to the tryline from a powerful driving maul. However, it was ruled out for obstruction.
Both sides had their fair share of chances after that, but some stern defence meant that it was 7-7 at the break.
It was the perfect start to the second half for Glasgow as Steyn, who produced a brilliant 50-22 moments earlier, went through a huge gap to score his team’s second try. George Horne nailed his second conversion to make it a seven-point lead.
Matt Fagerson thought he had scored Glasgow’s third a couple of minutes later. However, there was a forward pass in the build-up.
However, they eventually got that try in the 55th minute after a lethal attacking move ended with Josh McKay going through Connacht’s defence with ease.
Connacht stayed in the fight and, after applying plenty of pressure with ball in hand, Dave Heffernan powered over for a try. Sam Gilbert was on target with his second conversion, and there were only seven points in it.
Glasgow were also punished for their repeated offside infringements, with Alex Samuel getting a yellow card.
The home side’s towering replacement Jare Oguntibeju then caught everyone by surprise a few minutes later when he picked up the ball at a ruck before sprinting in for his team’s fourth try,
Horne made it a 14-point lead again with the conversion.
However, Connacht refused to go away, and after multiple phases with ball in hand, Finlay Bealham crashed over for a five-pointer with Gilbert converting the score.
With seven minutes left on the clock, Glasgow captain Steyn showed off his finishing skills again by collecting a long pass before easing over for his second try of the game to seal the win.
Man of the match: Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn deserves the award for his all-round performance. He was brilliant on attack and produced a strong defensive performance as well.
The scorers:
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Schickerling, Steyn 2, McKay, Oguntibeju
Cons: Horne 4
For Connacht:
Tries: Prendergast, Heffernan, Bealham
Cons: Gilbert 3
Yellow cards: Sam Illo (Connacht, 14′ – repeated infringements, offside); Alex Samuel (Glasgow, 64′ – repeated infringements, offside)
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (captain), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Patrick Schickerling.
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Jare Oguntibeju, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Jack Oliver, 23 Ollie Smith.
Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 John Devine, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Sam Illo, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Billy Bohan.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Hugh Gavin, 23 Sean Naughton.
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)
