Warriors on top to seal Scotstoun advantage
Win earns home play-off semi-final
Glasgow warriors secured a Pro14 home semi-final in style with an emphatic bonuspoint victory over Connacht.
They were never in trouble as they romped to a triumph that guarantees they will finish the season at the top of Conference a.
This was a game when the warriors’ scotland internationals made their presence felt.
None more so than centre alex Dunbar, who returned to the side after three months out injured.
He ran a great angle to score a first-half try and his superb reverse pass played in Henry Pyrgos for his touchdown. The other fivepointers came from stuart Hogg and Fraser Brown.
The game was effectively over by the 44th minute, by which time glasgow had scored their four tries that secured the bonus point. ahead 35-8 it was simply a matter of seeing out time.
Connacht made the perfect start, scoring within the first minute. Rather than taking an easy three points after glasgow were caught offside, they kicked to the corner. From the driving maul off the line-out, prop Finlay Bealham got the touchdown.
Two minutes later glasgow drew level. a break from DTH van der Merwe left two Connacht defenders for dead.
once he had done the hard work, all Hogg had to do was to run in the try. Horne put over the conversion.
The points kept coming for the home side, with Horne — standing in for Finn Russell at No 10 — kicking over penalties in the sixth, 12th and 19th minutes to put the warriors in the box seat.
against the run of play Jack Carty cut the deficit with a penalty.
Centre Dunbar was playing for the first time since January 20 after recovering from a leg injury, and he marked his return with a superb solo try.
Horne played him a short pass and, running a great line, he managed to find his way to the line. Horne put over the extras just before the half hour mark.
For the last ten minutes of the half, play became bogged down in midfield with Connacht enjoying more possession than they previously had.
Three minutes from the break winger van der Merwe had to go off injured to be replaced by fans’ favourite Niko Matawalu.
glasgow got another try in the last play of the half after great forward play. They were camped on the Connacht line for five attacking phases before hooker Brown went over.
with Horne kicking the conversion, glasgow were on easy street. and three minutes into the second half they secured a fourth try that secured the bonus point.
Dunbar started it with a superb reverse pass to Matt Fagerson.
He broke forward before playing in Pyrgos, who managed to touch the ball down at the bottom of the posts.
Horne then made a real hash of the conversion by hardly getting the ball off the ground.
Matawalu turned out to be the unlikely try-saver when he managed to keep Jarrad Butler from touching down over the line. The game was turning into a bit of an arm wrestle with glasgow forwards struggling at the scrum.
Referee Frank Murphy warned prop alex allan he was heading for the sin-bin if he kept collapsing the set-piece.
when allan repeated the crime the official had no alternative but to send him to the touchline for ten minutes.
Russell and ali Price came on for Horne and Pyrgos with 15 minutes left to try and revitalise a glasgow side that had taken its foot off the gas.
It had the opposite effect with replacement Caolin Blade going over for a solo try. Carty put over the extras.
It led to a purple patch for the Irish outfit who pinned glasgow back in their own half.
with five minutes left Rob Harley became the second glasgow player to be yellowcarded after he illegally disrupted a Connacht attack.
Moments later the home side conceded a penalty try for illegally stopping a forward move from the Irish outfit.