The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Glasgow secure home semi-final for play-offs
Pro14 win over Connacht maintains perfect record
Glasgow secured their home semi-final in the Guinness Pro14 play-offs and maintained their 100% home record with a bonus-point win over Connacht at Scotstoun.
The Warriors looked slicker and more direct than of late in completing four tries only three minutes into the second half.
However, with the win secure, they fell away alarmingly in the last half-hour of the game, conceding two tries and failing to add any more points.
There were major plus points for Dave Rennie with Alex Dunbar’s return chief among them, the centre scoring a try and helping set up another. Pete Horne ran the show superbly from stand-off, and some of the defence was top class.
Stuart Hogg, Fraser Brown and Henry Pyrgos scored the other tries, with Horne kicking three conversions and three penalties.
The Warriors will have home advantage for their semi-final having won Conference A despite Munster’s earlier victory over the Cheetahs in South Africa.
After a false start, conceding a try in barely two minutes, Glasgow were efficient and ruthless in securing the home semi-final they wanted by the half-time break.
The Warriors’ exit from the kick-off went awry and Connacht opted to kick a penalty to the corner, prop Finlay Bealham battling over from the lineout drive but Jack Carty missing the conversion from wide out.
But if the Scotstoun faithful had any doubts they were dispelled within two minutes. From quick lineout ball DTH van der Merwe came off his wing to take a Horne pass and find a seam in the defence outside Bundee Aki, and he raced away to put Hogg in for an easy score which he converted.
Glasgow might have had a little more than three Horne penalties from the next 20 minutes as they dominated with the ball.
They also held Connacht in check until Carty booted a long penalty.
Just two minutes later Horne’s perfectly-timed pass sprung Dunbar at pace and the Scotland centre celebrated his return to action with a 30-metre sprint between defenders for the second try.
Horne converted and added the two points again just before the break as successive lineout drives finally brought reward when Brown wrestled over for the third try.
From their first attack of the second half the Warriors claimed the bonus. Dunbar’s smart backhand pass released Matt Fagerson for a run into the 22, and Pyrgos was at his shoulder to score at the base of the posts.
Job done, the Warriors fell a little flat for most of the second half, losing much of their coherence and discipline.
They somehow survived a series of scrums near their own line with just a yellow card against Alex Allan.
Connacht finally got through the depleted defence via scrum-half replacement Caolin Blade for a try, Carty converting.
Rob Harley then saw yellow for hauling down a maul with five minutes remaining, and Connacht added a penalty try after the Glasgow scrum splintered under the posts, but the Warriors kept their record of not allowing even a bonus point to visitors to Scotstoun this season.