CONNACHT REMAIN ROCK bottom of the RaboDirect Pro12 after a 19-12 loss to the Glasgow Warriors in front of a crowd of 4,185 at the Sportsground.
Pat Lam’s side have won just twice in all competitions so far this season and while there is no shame in losing to a well-drilled Glasgow side, the Connacht coach will be disappointed to head into the international break with another defeat.
Gabriel Ascarate gave the Warriors the lead after just 6 minutes when he crossed the whitewash, allowing out-half Duncan Weir to add the conversion. Centre Mark Bennett missed with a long-range penalty attempt in the ninth minute, before Connacht got their only points on the board through a Dan Parks penalty.
Weir put the Scots’ lead out to seven points in the 24th minute when he slotted his first penalty attempt of the night and then Connacht were dealt another blow as Kieran Marmion was forced off to be replaced by Paul O’Donohoe. Weir added insult to that injury when he was successful with his second penalty in the 33rd minute.
Parks had a chance to reduce the deficit with a place kick of his own four minutes before the break, but the former Scotland international was wide of the mark and Glasgow took a 13-3 lead into half time.
The Connacht out-half had another chance to draw his side closer to the visitors five minutes after the interval, but again pushed his penalty wide. Parks rediscovered his kicking boots soon after though, knocking over a penalty from inside the Warriors’ 22 to make it 13-6.
©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.
Powerful carrying from the Warriors forwards then resulted in a another penalty chance for Weir, and the Scotland international once again obliged, knocking if over for a 16-6 lead. With the game beginning to slip away from his side, Lam made several substitutions on the 55 minute mark, as Nathan White, Dave Heffernan and Mick Kearney entered the fray, while Craig Ronaldson replaced Parks at out-half.
The former Lansdowne RFC man had an almost instant impact, slotting a penalty after Chris Cusiter was ruled offside at a Connacht scrum. That left the score at 16-9 and two minutes later Ronaldson had another effort at goal, but this time pulled his kick to the left of the posts. The 23-year-old made up for the miss by scything through Glasgow’s defence and beating three defenders before being hauled down five metres from the try-line.
That break eventually led to a scrum penalty for Connacht, which Ronaldson scored to make it 16-12 and give the sparse home crowd hope of a victory. However, Gregor Townsend’s men proved to have the mettle to see out their victory, with the sin binning of flanker Mata Fifita for a late tackle not helping Connacht’s desperate efforts.
Weir completed the win for the Warriors with his fourth penalty of the night in the 79th minute to leave the final score at 19-12. It’s back to the drawing board for Connacht, whose next game is at home to the Scarlets on the 23rd of November.
Cardiff see off Treviso
Earlier today, the Cardiff Blues recorded a 17-13 win at home to Treviso, getting back to winning ways after last weekend’s 39-21 defeat to Ulster.
Despite the big names like Leigh Halfpenny and Sam Warburton being away with Wales, the Blues burst into an early 10-0 lead thanks to a try by hooker Kristian Dacey and five points from the boot of out-half Gareth Davies.
Treviso hauled themselves back into the game through two penalties from former Leinster out-half Matt Berquist, before centre Michele Campagnaro burst over for a try on 32 minutes. Berquist’s conversion gave the Italians a 14-10 advantage, which they took into half time.
Cardiff thought they had got their second half efforts off to the perfect start when Andre Pretorius touched down, only for the flanker’s effort to be ruled out for a forward pass in the build-up. However, prop Sam Hobbs did cross under the posts just minutes later to allow Davies to give the home side a 17-13 lead which they didn’t relinquish thereafter.
