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March 24, 2017

Glasgow Warriors v Connacht

Posted by Editor on March 24, 2017 08:45 PM | No comments | Print | E-mail author

Adam Ashe is the Warrior to Watch
Warriors are in action at Scotstoun tomorrow afternoon and Disco looks ahead to the must-win PRO12 clash with defending champions Connacht.

You can check out more of Disco's thoughts on Glasgow's pursuit of a second PRO12 title and European progress, as well as Scotland's international fortunes, at his excellent blog Top of the Moon.

KO 5.15 at Scotstoun Stadium, Saturday 25th March 2017

Live on Sky Sports 2

It's been more than 18 months since these sides last met at Scotstoun. On that occasion the Rugby World Cup was in full swing and only 17 of the 46 players return from that game in September 2015. Just 5 of Saturday's 23 for Glasgow featured in that game - test your memory and see if you can figure out the right Warriors (answers at the end of this article).

Glasgow Warriors

15 Stuart Hogg

14 Sean Lamont
13 Nick Grigg
12 Peter Horne (Captain)
11 Rory Hughes

10 Finn Russell
9 Ali Price

1 Alex Allan
2 Corey Flynn
3 Sila Puafisi
4 Tim Swinson
5 Brian Alainu'uese
6 Robert Harley
7 Matt Smith
8 Adam Ashe

Substitutes

16 Fraser Brown
17 Gordon Reid
18 D'arcy Rae
19 Scott Cummings
20 Lewis Wynne
21 George Horne
22 Alex Dunbar
23 Peter Murchie

Connacht

15 Tiernan O'Halloran

14 Niyi Adeolokun
13 Bundee Aki
12 Craig Ronaldson
11 Stacey Ili

10 Jack Carty
9 Kieran Marmion

1 Denis Buckley
2 Tom McCartney
3 Finlay Bealham
4 Quinn Roux
5 Andrew Browne
6 Sean O'Brien
7 Jake Heenan
8 John Muldoon

Substitutes

16 Dave Heffernan
17 Ronan Loughney
18 D Robertson-McCoy
19 James Cannon
20 Naulia Dawai
21 John Cooney
22 Tom Farrell
23 Josh Rowland

Head to Head:
Back 3 - ADV Glasgow
Centres - ADV Connacht
Half Backs - ADV Glasgow
Front Row - ADV Connacht
Second Row - ADV Glasgow
Back Row - ADV Connacht
Substitutes - ADV Glasgow

Glasgow Greetings:
The match will see a first appearance at Scotstoun for Matt Smith after making his debut at the Liberty Stadium last month. Stuart Hogg will be playing his first home PRO12 match since the 28th of October.

Matchday Milestones:
50th and 75th starts for the club for, respectively, Finn Russell and Peter Horne. The match could also see Pete and wee brother George become the second set of siblings this season to take to the pitch at the same time for Glasgow (after the Fagersons). In this week's Bob Harley watch OTOTM notes that the big man is playing his 158th match for the Warriors, overtaking Al Kellock to move 2nd all-time for appearances on his own. The next target for the Ginger Ninja will be Graeme Morrison's 177 games for the club.

Warriors One to Watch:
The top carrier in the equivalent fixture in the 2015/16 campaign was Adam Ashe with 20 - more than twice as many as any other Glasgow forward. DJ Adam was the team's primary ball carrier during the RWC period and got through an enormous amount of work. Injuries have held him back over the last 10 months but the end of season run in could well be his chance to shine once more.

Adam has recently been added to the Warriors' European squad ahead of the Champions Cup quarter final. With Josh Strauss looking like he will be on the sidelines for an extended period the ability to get over the gain line that young Mr Ashe brings to the side will be crucial. If he's hitting top form expect to see him picking up 15-20 carries in the matches he starts - hopefully beginning with Connacht on Saturday.

Toony's Track Record...

...against Connacht:

Regular season: 8 wins and 1 loss. 4 Try BPs, 1 Losing BP. 37 points out of a possible 45 (82%). Playoffs: 1 loss
Gregor Townsend's men have a strong record against Connacht - only the Italian sides have provided a higher percentage of points. The visitors are on good run though and getting back towards something approaching the form that took them to last season's PRO12 trophy.

Last season's match-up:

6 - Penalties / free kicks conceded by Glasgow's props. It was a tough day at the office for the Warriors' scrum as they lost 2 on their own put-in; committed the aforementioned offences; saw Zander Fagerson yellow carded for persistent infringements at the setpiece; and ultimately conceded a penalty try while trying to hold the Connacht pack. The Westies will be targeting this area once again so a lot of responsibility falls on the shoulders of Alex Allan and Sila Puafisi to contain the green tide.

65 - Minutes played at outside centre by flanker Hugh Blake. Shug demonstrated remarkable composure to fill in while making his Glasgow debut. He ended up as part of a never to be seen again Warriors backline that finished the game looking something like this:

9 Grayson Hart
10 Scott Wight
11 Lee Jones
12 Fraser Lyle
13 Hugh Blake
14 Glenn Bryce
15 Rory Clegg

79 - Percentage of tackles completed by Glasgow. This was one of the lowest levels of the season but is maybe more understandable within the context of the makeshift nature of the team and the fierce fightback launched by Connacht in the second half. The visitors will use their passing game try and work their way around the Warriors' defence so Glasgow's units have to be completely in sync and communication will be key if they are going to keep the tackle percentage high.

Home and Away:
Glasgow last 6 in PRO12 (H) - W L L W L W
Connacht last 6 in PRO12 (A) - L L L L W W

Officials:
Referee: Ian Davies (WRU - 60th tournament game)
AR1: Sean Brickell (WRU)
AR2: Bob Nevins (WRU)
TMO: Jon Mason (WRU)

Bizarrely this will be the fourth consecutive regular season meeting between these 2 sides to be refereed by Mr Davies. There's a question mark over whether the Warriors have struggled to adapt to his style or whether they have just had a sequence of unfortunately timed errors in the games he has taken charge of across the past 2 seasons:

2015/16:
Connacht (H) - Fagerson yellow carded. Penalty try conceded.
Leinster (A) - MacArthur & Naiyaravoro yellow carded. Penalty try conceded.
Zebre (A) - MacArthur yellow carded.
Connacht (A) - Puafisi red carded.

2016/17:
Connacht (A) - Wilson yellow carded.
Ulster (H) - Sarto yellow carded. Penalty try conceded.
Edinburgh (A) - Allan yellow carded.

Incidentally in those 8 matches Ian Henderson (Ulster) is the only opposition player to be sent to the sin bin and Glasgow have spent a total of 101 minutes shorthanded against 10 minutes with a man advantage.

The average penalty count in the Mr Davies' previous matches only averages out at 9-7 against the Warriors. If they can avoid the high profile incidents that have dogged them during these fixtures they can reduce the referee's impact on the game and give themselves a far better chance of picking up a vital win.

And the five players? Peter Murchie, Alex Allan, Scott Cummings, Robert Harley and Adam Ashe all started for Glasgow in that game against Connacht in Round 2 of the 2015/16 season and are also in the 23 for Saturday's match.

Previous Matches with Connacht
Saturday October 28 2023
Connacht 34 26 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday April 22 2023
Glasgow Warriors 29 27 Connacht Match Report
Saturday January 29 2022
Connacht 20 42 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday October 3 2020
Connacht 28 24 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday April 10 2020
Connacht P P Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday February 22 2019
Glasgow Warriors 43 17 Connacht Match Report
Saturday September 1 2018
Connacht 26 27 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday April 13 2018
Glasgow Warriors 35 22 Connacht Match Report
Saturday September 2 2017
Connacht 12 18 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday March 25 2017
Glasgow Warriors 35 24 Connacht Match Report
Saturday September 3 2016
Connacht 5 41 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday May 21 2016
Connacht 16 11 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday May 7 2016
Connacht 14 7 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday September 11 2015
Glasgow Warriors 33 32 Connacht Match Report
Saturday April 25 2015
Connacht 13 31 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday September 26 2014
Glasgow Warriors 39 21 Connacht Match Report
Sunday February 9 2014
Glasgow Warriors 8 6 Connacht Match Report
Saturday November 2 2013
Connacht 12 19 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday May 3 2013
Connacht 3 20 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday September 21 2012
Glasgow Warriors 27 17 Connacht Match Report
Saturday May 5 2012
Glasgow Warriors 24 3 Connacht Match Report
Saturday February 18 2012
Connacht 13 13 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday February 18 2011
Connacht 37 8 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday September 17 2010
Glasgow Warriors 17 19 Connacht Match Report
Friday March 5 2010
Connacht 19 19 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday October 23 2009
Glasgow Warriors 34 20 Connacht Match Report
Friday May 15 2009
Glasgow Warriors 30 9 Connacht Match Report
Friday September 19 2008
Connacht 15 8 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday November 30 2007
Connacht 10 6 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday October 5 2007
Glasgow Warriors 16 15 Connacht Match Report
Friday April 13 2007
Connacht 23 40 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday November 3 2006
Glasgow Warriors 39 34 Connacht Match Report
Friday May 26 2006
Connacht 33 7 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday November 4 2005
Glasgow Warriors 30 15 Connacht Match Report
Friday December 17 2004
Glasgow Warriors 35 0 Connacht Match Report
Saturday September 4 2004
Connacht 31 15 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday February 28 2004
Connacht 28 28 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday September 26 2003
Glasgow Warriors 19 30 Connacht Match Report