Glasgow Warriors 8
Connacht 6
CONNACHT LOST THEIR 11th league game of an underwhelming season after Glasgow Warrior edged them out at rain-soaked Scotstoun.
Pat Lam’s men, who could be without concussion-affected captain Craig Clarke for the rest of the season, lost 8-6 after failing to register a point in the second-half. An 18th minute try from centre Mark Bennett and a 43rd minute penalty for Ruairidh Jackson eventually saw the Scots home.
Inside centre Craig Ronaldson was tasked with the kicking duties, despite the presence of young out-half Jack Carty, and delivered a mixed bag. He missed three of his first four penalty attempts before landing an effort that saw the visitors lead 6-5 at half-time. Jackson’s penalty after the break edged his side in front but he missed three late efforts — proving the difficulty of the conditions — to seal the win.
Craig Ronalson had a rough day from the kicking tee. INPHO/Russell Cheyne
Lam emptied his bench in the final 20 minutes but even the introduction of veteran Scottish outhalf Dan Parks failed to engineer a meaningful scoring chance. Connacht have lost all but two of their Pro12 games this season and, with the Heineken Cup win over Toulouse now a fading memory, finds himself under real pressure to cobble some wins together.
Lam will now try to regroup his men for next weekend’s visit of Edinburgh. He may have to plan without winger Matt Healy and back-row Andrew Browne, both of whom left the game with knocks.
Connacht: R Henshaw, F Carr, E Griffin, C Ronaldson, M Healy; J Carty, K Marmion; D Buckley, J Harris-Wright, R Ah You; M Kearney, A Browne; J Muldoon (capt.), J Heenan, G Naoupu.Replacements: D Heffernan, R Loughney, JP Cooney, M Swift, A Muldowney, P O’Donohoe, D Parks, D Leader.