Glasgow Warriors | Connacht v Glasgow Warriors
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September 01, 2018

Connacht 26 - 27 Glasgow Warriors

GUINNESS PRO14 match played at The Sportsground on Saturday September 1st 2018 | No comments

Stuart Hogg was man-of-the-match
The Warriors opened their PRO14 campaign with a hard-fought bonus-point win over Connacht in Galway.

A drop-goal by Stuart Hogg edged the Warriors ahead with just minutes to go but Connacht's replacement fly-half Craig Ronaldson had a last-gasp chance to pinch the result but his long-range penalty agonisingly bounced wide off the left post.

A hectic attack-driven first half, which began with Tommy Seymour's try after only 62 seconds, finished 23-17 in Connacht's favour.

Jack Carty kicked 13 points to add to tries from Cian Kelleher and Finlay Bealham, while George Turner and co-captain Ryan Wilson took Glasgow's try tally to three.

Carty's third successful penalty edged Connacht closer to a winning start under new head coach Andy Friend, but the visitors bounced back from Adam Hastings' sin-binning to bag their fourth try through replacement Adam Ashe and Hogg coolly supplied the match-winning kick.

Head coach Dave Rennie hailed Glasgow Warriors' "character" after coming back from nine points behind when Adam Hastings was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on 57 minutes.

But a thumping late drop-goal from Stuart Hogg nudged them in front, and they clung on for a narrow victory.

"The boys won that period Adam was in the sin-bin - that was crucial," said Rennie.

"We did a lot of good stuff first-half but lacked a little bit of patience. Maybe we tried to move the ball too wide, too quickly at times and turned it over. To Connacht's credit they kept coming and every time they got down our end they got rewarded."

After Hogg's strike, Warriors were forced to watch a long-range penalty from Craig Ronaldson glance the outside of the post with the final play.

Nick Grigg was adjudged to have infringed at the breakdown, allowing Ronaldson the chance to snatch victory, but Rennie revealed Ian Davies had apologised to the Scotland centre for incorrectly penalising him.

"I would've preferred we closed the game out, but that's not the way we do things - we'll keep everyone entertained for an extra three or four minutes, unfortunately," he said.

"In the end it was a fair result with the kick missing. We know it's not how you start the season, it's how you finish. To get five points away from home is important. Some other sides will come here and struggle."

Referee Ian Davies (Wales)
Attendance
Man of the Match Stuart Hogg
Team
1
Oli Kebble
2
George Turner
3
Zander Fagerson
4
Scott Cummings
5
Jonny Gray
6
Robert Harley
7
Callum Gibbins
8
Ryan Wilson
9
George Horne
10
Adam Hastings
11
DTH van der Merwe
12
Peter Horne
13
Nick Grigg
14
Tommy Seymour
15
Stuart Hogg
Sub
Fraser Brown
Sub
Alex Allan
Sub
D'arcy Rae
Sub
Adam Ashe
Sub
Chris Fusaro
Sub
Nick Frisby
Sub
Alex Dunbar
Sub
Nikola Matawalu
Match Substitutions
Off On
George Horne Nick Frisby
Off On
George Turner Fraser Brown
Off On
Scott Cummings Chris Fusaro
Off On
DTH van der Merwe Nikola Matawalu
Off On
Oli Kebble Alex Allan
Off On
Peter Horne Alex Dunbar
Off On
Ryan Wilson Adam Ashe
Off On
Zander Fagerson D'arcy Rae
Scorers
Tommy Seymour Try 
George Turner Try 
Peter Horne Conversion
Ryan Wilson Try 
Adam Ashe Try 
Stuart Hogg Conversion
Stuart Hogg Drop