Ulster loss sees Lions secure play-off spot  

WRAP: Glasgow Warriors defeated Ulster in a thriller by 26-22 in Belfast, whilst Connacht sealed their place in the top right of the United Rugby Championship with a 26-5 win over Edinburgh.

These results also mean that the Lions, irrespective of what the result against Munster is on Saturday, will qualify for a maiden quarterfinal berth in the URC.

Should Munster defeat the Lions, they will leapfrog the men from Johannesburg and kick Ulster out of the top eight.

*Also read: Cardiff punish ill-disciplined, wasteful Stormers

In Belfast, the Challenge Cup Finalists put up a massive fight against Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors, but ultimately came up short.

Glasgow opened the scoring seven minutes into the game through Stafford McDowall, which George Horne converted.

Zac Ward replied with a try in the 18th minute to reduce the deficit to two points.

Prop Nathan McBeth was sent to the sinbin 21 minutes into the match.

Ward grabbed a brace in the 32nd minute, which Jake Flannery converted before Glasgow scored two quick tries before the break through McBeth and Horne, off which the scrumhalf converted both for a 21-12 lead at the break.

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Glasgow went down to 14 players once more when Josh McKay was given his marching orders to sit out for 10 minutes, and Ulster capitalised with two unconverted tries by Ethan McIlroy and Jack Murphy to put Ulster ahead by a point after 67 minutes.

Kyle Rowe’s 76th-minute try sealed the bonus point and the win for the Warriors to cement top spot in the standings.

In Edinburgh, Connacht outscored Sean Everitt’s men by four tries to one, sealing their play-off spot in the tournament.

Connacht scored three tries in the first half through Josh Ioane and a brace by Shamus Hurley-Langton, followed by two conversions by Sam Gilbert for a 19-0 lead at the break

Scrumhalf Matthew Devine scored the bonus point try on the 60-minute mark, which Gilbert converted, with Ewan Ashman dotting down in the 71st minute for Edinburgh’s only score of the evening.

Ulster 22-26 Glasgow Warriors

Scorers

For Ulster:
Tries: Ward 2, McIlroy, Murphy
Con: Flannery

For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: McDowall, McBeth, Horne, Rowe
Cons: Horne 3

Yellow cards: Nathan McBeth (Glasgow Warriors, 21′), Josh McKay (Glasgow Warriors, 44′)

Teams

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 James Hume, 12 Wilhelm De Klerk, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 Conor McKee, 8 Bryn Ward, 7 Nick Timoney (captain), 6 Joe Hopes, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Sam Crean
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Lorcan McLoughlin, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Jack Murphy, 23 Ethan McIlroy

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 Macenzzie Duncan, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Jare Oguntibeju, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Ollie Smith

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Max Weston (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)

Edinburgh 5-26 Connacht

Scorers

For Edinburgh: 
Try: Ashman

For Connacht:
Tries: Ioane, Hurley-Langton 2, Devine
Cons: Gilbert 3

Teams

Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Findlay Thomson, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Tom Dodd, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Euan McVie, 21 Tom Currie, 22 Charlie Shiel, 23 Jack Brown

Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 Harry West, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Eoin de Buitléar, 1 Billy Bohan
Replacements: 16 Mikey Yarr, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 David O’Connor, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Seán Naughton

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Ian Kenny (Scotland), Rob McDowell (Scotland)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)