United Rugby Championship: Glasgow grind out narrow win over Connacht
Glasgow strengthened their second place in the United Rugby Championship table with a win over Scottstown over a resolute Connacht.
The Irish side first crossed through David Hawkshaw but Warriors added tries at the break with Sebastian Cancelliere and Ben Ashfar Leading 17-5.
Hawkshaw and Cancelliere exchanged further points in the second half and although Piers O’Conor scored late for the visitors, Glasgow firmly secured victory.
Franco Smith’s side now lead the Bulls in third, two games ahead of the South African outfit.
Both teams have a run of international fixtures ahead of the start of the Six Nations next weekend, so it’s a tough game in tough conditions with a lack of cohesion.
Duncan Weir, who captained the Glasgow side for the first time since joining the club in 2010, suffered a penalty at half-time to get the Warriors up and running.
However, Connacht dominated the exchanges in the opening quarter and were rewarded before Hawkshaw charged past Ollie Smith’s attempted kick.
Henco Venter got Glasgow back on the front foot with a powerful burst and when the ball was whipped wide the cancelliere raced across the gap and through a gap to scramble for Glasgow’s first try.
The game kept coming until a majestic performance from Prop Fin Richardson and a performance saw him slip through the Connacht defence, before offloading Ashex Samuel to Alex Samuel, who sent Ashfar sprinting free to the try line.
Glasgow led by 12 at the break but Connacht struck early in the second half and some neat maneuvering allowed Hawkshaw to score his second try of the game.
The Irish side had played well into the first half and now with the wind in hand had a chance to reduce the deficit to two points only for JJ Hanrahan’s penalty try to recover from below the upright.
The Warriors gave themselves some breathing room on their third try. Strong work from Smith and Jack Mann brought Glasgow to the edge of the Connacht Line before Cancelliere once again found themselves in the right place at the right time , to land.
The visitors were not finished yet, with O’Conor opening the game to a tense effect with two minutes gone, but Glasgow did well to finish off the final moments to seal victory.
