United Rugby Championship: Connacht 20-42 Glasgow Warriors
- Published
United Rugby Championship |
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Connacht (10) 20 |
Tries: Arnold, Boyle. Cons: Forde 2. Pens: Forde 2 |
Glasgow Warriors (17) 42 |
Tries: McLean 2, Steyn 2, Brown, Matthews. Cons: Weir 3. Pens: Weir 2. |
Rufus McLean and Kyle Steyn both touched down twice in Glasgow Warriors' runaway United Rugby Championship win over Connacht at the Sportsground.
Chasing their third straight league victory, Warriors led 17-10 at half-time thanks to tries from McLean, Steyn and co-captain Fraser Brown.
Connacht hit back through Sam Arnold during Richie Gray's sin-binning and a Paul Boyle try drew them level.
But McLean, Steyn and replacement Johnny Matthews rounded off the win.
With Leinster losing in Cardiff, Warriors finish the evening second in the table behind Edinburgh.
Glasgow's attack and backs coach Nigel Carolan, who joined from Connacht last summer, would have been pleased with the visitors' early sharpness, which led to a second-minute try.
Their ability to get over the gain line led to winger McLean crossing in the left corner, via a George Horne pass.
Facing into the wind, Glasgow lost the momentum when lock Gray was binned for a dangerous clear-out on Ultan Dillane.
A fine 50:22 kick from Tiernan O'Halloran, on his 200th appearance, got Connacht into range and Forde's short pass sent Arnold over for a seven-pointer.
Warriors ended the opening quarter with a 12-7 lead, Steyn shrugging off Tom Farrell's attempted tackle to score after good work from Sione Tuipulotu.
While Connacht's line-out was misfiring, a well-executed maul sent Brown over for a try five minutes before the break.
Debutant Connacht fly-half Cathal Forde, who finished with 10 points, snuck in a late penalty to close the gap to seven points and, with Oisin Dowling providing an impact off the bench, Connacht were much improved on the resumption.
Number eight Boyle burrowed over for Forde to kick Connacht level and then Forde cancelled out a Duncan Weir penalty with his second of the contest.
Boyle's binning for going off his feet had the hosts under pressure though, and Weir looped a pass out for McLean to notch the bonus point in the corner.
Weir then converted Steyn's second score, the South Africa-born centre capitalising on a partially blocked kick.
A disappointing Connacht side had little left in the tank, leaving Weir to tag on a penalty and convert Matthews' 80th-minute maul try.
Connacht: O'Halloran, Wootton, Farrell, Arnold, Kilgallen, Forde, Marmion, Duggan, Heffernan, McGrath, Dillane, Fifita, E Masterson, Butler, Boyle.
Replacements: Delahunt, Buckley, Tuimauga, Dowling, S Masterson, C.Reilly, Bolton, McNulty.
Glasgow Warriors: Smith, Cancelliere, Steyn, Tuipulotu, McLean, Weir, G Horne, Kebble, Brown, Pieretto, McDonald, Gray, Wilson, Gordon, Dempsey.
Replacements: Matthews, Bhatti, Berghan, Bean, Miller, Dobie, Thompson, McDowall.
Referee: Nic Berry (ARU).
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