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punished

Warriors wipe Connacht out with five tries in Galway

Pat Lam will be left ruing errors from his men throughout the 80 minutes.

Connacht 13

Glasgow 31

GREGOR TOWNSEND’S WARRIORS took back their position as Pro12 league leaders thanks to a clinical bonus point win away to Connacht.

Pat Lam’s men at times looked the dominant side and threatened a second half comeback, but errors continually left them frustrated in their attempts to see off a Glasgow side who happily punished each one.

Despite the visitors being reduced to 14 men for 20 minutes in the second half with yellow cards to Tommy Seymour and Chris Fusaro, they finished off the game in style with their tries scored column improved by five.

A solid Connacht set-piece with a heavier overall pack weight had ensured the hosts started on the front foot. Yet despite 20 minutes of pressure, Jack Carty’s two penalties were all the reward they had to show.

Glasgow are always dangerous with ball in hand and their first real foray in to the Connacht half ended in a try. After Richie Vernon made an excellent carry to make a gainline in front of the posts, hooker Fraser Browne followed up and took a tackle before releasing an excellent back-handed offload to Niko Matawalu who spun out of contact and over the try-line.

On 34 minutes they punished another defensive lapse, Stuart Hogg profiting from the line break and offload this time around.

hen

It was to get even worse for Connacht as Glasgow’s defence turned the screw before half-time. Trying to run the ball from their 22, Robbie Henshaw found his pass stolen by Matawalu and the Fijian gleefully ran in his second try of the day to give Connacht a mountain to climb with the score 6 – 19 at the break.

The second half delivered two lifelines to Connacht: first, Seymour was sin-binned for his breakdown efforts after 46 minutes. With Glasgow again pinned into their 22, handling errors turned out to be Connacht’s undoing as they struggled to build pressure and finish off opportunities.

And yet, they were brought right back into the game when Aly Muldowney rumbled over and got the benefit of the TMO decision leaving Connacht still six points adrift.

ashe

Glasgow rarely need a second invitation to raid into a gap and after their first half joys around the fringe, Josh Strauss found another hole in the 67th minute, romping in to the 22 before offloading to Adam Ashe for the bonus point try that killed the game. Tommy Seymour’s finish with six on the clock only served to twist the knife in the Galway crowd’s heart.

After Edinburgh’s win over Zebre last night, the defeat sees Connacht slip to seventh place in the Pr012 with hope fading that they can claim an automatic qualifying spot for the Champions Cup.

Scorers

Connacht

Try: A Muldowney

Conversion: J Carty.

Penalties: J Carty (2).

Glasgow

Tries: N Matawalu (2), S Hogg, A Ashe, T Seymour

Conversions: F Russell (3)

Composure key to Ulster’s quick turnaround against Leinster — Rory Best

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