Sport in brief

Rugby Union

Glasgow Warriors edged out Connacht in a gripping Guinness Guinness Pro14 opener at the Sportsground, with Stuart Hogg’s 73rd-minute dropped goal earning the Scottish side a 27-26 bonus-point victory. Craig Ronaldson had a last-gasp chance to pinch the result for the hosts but his long-range penalty bounced off a post.

At Rodney Parade, Benetton started their PRO14 campaign with an excellent 21-17 defeat of Dragons. The Italian side, who had a superb 2017/18 campaign winning 11 of 21 games, continued where they left off with tries from lock Alessandro Zanni (two) and flanker Braam Steyn.

At the Kingspan Stadium, a last-minute penalty from scrum-half John Cooney secured Ulster a hard-fought 15-13 win over the

Scarlets in the same competition. Scarlets’ Rhys Patchell scored the only try of the game in the first half.

Cycling

Alejandro Valverde won his second stage of the Vuelta a Espana to close the gap on race leader Rudy Molard.

Spain’s Valverde (Movistar) edged out Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) in a dramatic uphill sprint in Almaden at the end of stage eight from Linares.

Frenchman Molard (GroupamaFDJ) finished safely in the main group to retain his overall lead, although the 10 bonus seconds for the stage victory moved second-placed Valverde to within 37 seconds.

“They said it was a hard finish and people could lose time,” Valverde said. “My DS [sporting director] told me to get on Sagan’s wheel but I told him, ‘I’m going to focus on not losing time’. But in the end I got on Sagan’s wheel and was able to get past him. I know I’m in good shape but I was surprised with that.”

Britain’s Simon Yates is fourth overall, 51.5seconds off the lead, having finished in the leading pack.