Glasgow edge Connacht
URC REPORT: Glasgow Warriors were pushed to the wire by Connacht before claiming a 29-27 win at their Scotstoun fortress which sets them up nicely for the crunch part of their season.
The Warriors, who are now unbeaten in 17 successive home matches, will hope to carry their momentum into next week’s Challenge Cup semi-final away to Scarlets and then their home United Rugby Championship play-off quarterfinal against Munster.
Connacht will meet Ulster at Kingspan in the last eight.
Glasgow were already assured of fourth place in the URC and started the match like they did not have a care in the world.
They fired through several slick phases straight from kick-off, with Huw Jones and Stafford McDowall making good headway with powerful midfield bursts.
Then Rory Darge appeared on the scene to send Jones over for the game’s opening try with neat back-handed offload.
Connacht bounced back immediately by forcing Jones to carry the ball back over his own line, and then pressurising the home scrum into conceding a penalty try.
Warriors’ scrum continued to struggle, but their play around the park was razor sharp, and they raced back into the lead in the 18th minute when Tom Jordan juggled the ball before streaking under the posts.
The home side lost Scott Cummings to the sin-bin for an obstruction on Caolin Blade and Jack Carty kicked the three easy points for the visitors.
Connacht worked hard to take advantage of the extra man and were rewarded with the lead when number eight Cian Prendergast burrowed over from a tap penalty, with Carty adding the extras.
Warriors did not panic however, and they struck back before Cummings had returned to the fray with Ali Price finishing off on the left after some sharp link play.
Cole Forbes thought he had scored try number three for Glasgow – who led 19-17 at the break – after Jordan and Jones capitalised on turnover ball, but the latter had knocked-on whilst being tackled and so it was chalked off.
There was no more scoring until the hour mark, when replacement Glasgow hooker Johnny Matthews went over at the back of a line-out maul and George Horne added the touchline conversion to make 26-17.
Connacht would not lie down though, and after Horne and Carty had exchanged penalties, a Shamus Hurley-Langton try converted by Carty made for a tense final five minutes – but Warriors held on.
Player of the Match
Rory Darge’s lovely back-handed offload set up Glasgow’s opening try and the openside flank was a huge influence on both sides of the ball, competing ferociously at the breakdown, tackling like a titan, carrying with real power and offloading expertly.
Play of the Match
That fast, furious and accurate opening minute from Glasgow rocked Connacht on their heels and showcased a lot of what has made the Scottish side such a success story this season. The pace they ran onto the ball, and the speed of their recycle, created a fine try for Huw Jones.
The scorers:
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Jones, Jordan, Price, Matthews
Cons: Jordan, Horne 2
Pen: Horne
For Connacht:
Tries: Predergast, Hurley-Langton
Cons: Carty 2
Pens: Carty 2
Yellow card: Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors, 24)
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Huw Jones, 14 Cole Forbes, 13 Stafford McDowall (captain), 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Ali Price, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Rory Darge, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Lewis Bean, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 George Horne, 23 Domingo Miotti.
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Byron Ralston, 10 Jack Carty (captain), 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Cian Prendergast, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Niall Murray, 4 Oisín Dowling, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitléar, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Tom Daly, 23 Shane Jennings.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland) & Sam O’Neil (Scotland)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)
