Glasgow Warriors 36
Connacht 19
No joy for Connacht in Glasgow - for the team or head coach Stuart Lancaster, who would have been hoping to celebrate his birthday with a second URC win this season.
Instead Glasgow prevailed in Scotstoun Stadium to maintain their push at the top of the URC table, while also denying Connacht a win against the Scottish outfit since 2010- their last victory a 19-17 win in Firhill.
It had started well for Stuart Lancaster's outfit that dominated the early stages, but their failure to convert chances were thwarted by a strong Glasgow defence, while outhalf Ciaran Frawley missed a penalty kick at goal in the opening five minutes.
Eventually, however, Lancaster’s side were rewarded in the 16th minute when, from a tap penalty, Sean Jansen powered over, helped by captain Cian Prendergast and Sam Illo, and Frawley added the extras for a 0-7 lead.
However, the tide turned after that opening 20 minutes with Glasgow taking control. Centre Sioane Tuipolotu was a huge influence throughout, as was Matt Fagerson in their pack, and it was not long before Gregor Hiddleston delivered a try for the home side to open their tally.
Two harsh penalties against Connacht did not help, and despite the best efforts of Cian Prendergast, Mack Hansen, and Sam Illo, followed by a huge clearance kick from Ciaran Frawley, it only temporarily halted Glasgow’s momentum before they delivered a killer blow after 33 minutes when openside Rory Darge scored with Horne converting for a 19-7 lead.
It did not get any better when Gregor Hiddleston and Josh McKay added to the home side’s tally, but Connacht dug deep to recover. They grabbed second half momentum early on and the rewards came when Connacht produced a timely try through Josh Ioane, with good hands from Mack Hansen. When Frawley added the conversion, the game was still very much alive for Lancaster’s outfit.
However a harsh yellow card to Josh Murphy did not help their cause with the home profiting with a try through Seb Stephen, ensuring Connacht would struggle to regain momentum, despite carving several opportunities in the late stages.
“The damage was done towards the end of the first half and start of the second," says Lancaster. "I thought we came back well and we got within a try. If we had got two points with another try and got within seven, we would have completed it, but ultimately Glasgow were better on the night, and in the fundamentals of it, they deserved to win,” he says.
“There are a lot of positives - a lot of teams here [Scotstoun] don’t come away with anything, so for us it’s another step we need to take. We know we were not good enough in the second block and our discipline led to field position and pressure from Glasgow.
“It’s still early in the season. We’ve got Europe next week, with Saracens at Dexcom which is super exciting, and two home games in the URC against Zebre and Leinster, so we turn our attention to that now.
“There are a lot of lessons we learn from this that we need to take into that Champions Cup. We’ve had two difficult away games, so it's disappointing tonight, but we move on.”
Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Kyle Rowe, Ollie Smith, Sione Tuipulotu (capt ), Fergus Watson; Dan Lancaster, Jamie Dobie; Nathan McBeth, Gregor Hiddleston, Fin Richardson; Max Williamson, Scott Cummings; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Macenzzie Duncan. Replacements: Seb Stephen, Patrick Schickerling, Sam Talakai, Gregor Brown, Jare Oguntibeju, Ally Miller, George Horne, Bayley Kuenzle
Connacht: Josh Ioane; Shayne Bolton, Bundee Aki, Cathal Forde, Mack Hansen; Ciarán Frawley, Caolin Blade; Billy Bohan, Eoin de Buitléar Sam Illo; Darragh Murray, Niall Murray; Cian Prendergast (capt ), Paul Boyle, Sean Jansen. Replacements: Matthew Victory, Francois van Wyk, Finlay Bealham, Josh Murphy, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Colm Reilly, Sean Naughton, Sam Gilbert
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU ).
