Connacht floor Franco Smith's Glasgow
REPORT: Connacht made it two wins from two in the United Rugby Championship with a 34-26 win over Glasgow Warriors at The Sportsground.
Tom Jordan’s try on the stroke of half-time had Warriors leading 19-14, with Kyle Rowe scoring on his debut and their maul forcing a penalty try. Diarmuid Kilgallen crossed for Connacht to add to JJ Hanrahan’s three penalties.
Indeed, Glasgow leaked 15 points from penalties and were held scoreless for most of the final 40 minutes. Dylan Tierney-Martin, Kilgallen and Cathal Forde put Connacht well clear before replacement Jamie Dobie’s last-minute bonus-point score.
Summer signing Hanrahan was influential from the tee again, landing three penalties inside the opening 14 minutes to settle Connacht into their stride. The middle one came on the back of a Joe Joyce interception.
Glasgow got a gift of a try in response though, as Forde failed to deal with Jordan’s restart kick and the inrushing Rowe dribbled through and gathered the ball on the bounce to pull back seven points.
Connacht quickly hit back to lead 14-7, with Cian Prendergast stealing a lineout, Tom Farrell breaking past halfway and Caolin Blade’s kick through sat up invitingly for Kilgallen to go over in the left corner.
Glasgow drew level in the 24th minute, their maul doing the damage as Angus Fraser surged towards the line and Jarrad Butler conceded a penalty try for side-entry, with referee Adam Jones also flashing his yellow card.
A Niall Murray lineout steal, coupled with a crucial scrum penalty, saw the Scots miss out on a second try during Butler’s absence, but Huw Jones’ inside pass sent Jordan sidestepping over to put them ahead for the first time.
Five minutes after the restart, Prendergast fed hooker Tierney-Martin to crash over just beside the posts. Young centre Forde converted and then used a scrum penalty kick the westerners into a 24-19 lead.
Rory Darge went off his feet at a ruck, allowing Forde to widen the gap to eight points, and the classy Kilgallen doubled his tally by intercepting a Jordan pass for a 55-metre run-in. Forde’s conversion took his tally to 10 points.
Franco Smith’s men made sure they took home a bonus point late on, with Duncan Weir’s inside pass sending Rowe through a midfield gap and the supporting Dobie finished off. Replacement Weir also converted.
Play of the Match
Wing Kilgallen's opening try for Connacht was well-crafted, coming from an initial Farrell break and captain Blade's support run and well-weighted kick towards the left corner. Glasgow had a part in their own downfall, with Kyle Rowe misreading the bouncing ball and Kilgallen was in the right place to profit.
Player of the Match
Save for his error before Kyle Rowe's try, BKT URC player-of-the-match Forde hardly put a foot wrong during this second round clash. The 21-year-old showed his versatility by shifting to flyhalf during a back-line reshuffle, JJ Hanrahan moving to inside centre. He also took his points well, including a booming left-footed strike from just inside the Glasgow half.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: Kilgallen, Tierney-Martin, Kilgallen
Cons: Forde 2
Pens: Hanrahan 3, Forde 2
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Rowe, Jordan, Dobie
Cons: Jordan 2
Yellow card: Jarrad Butler (Connacht, 24)
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Caolin Blade (captain), 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Oisín Dowling, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Liam McNamara, 23 Conor Oliver.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Steyn (captain), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Angus Fraser, 1 Oli Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Rory Darge, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Duncan Weir.
Referee: Adam Jones
Assistant Referees: Padraic Reidy, Sam Holt
TMO: Jon Mason