Connacht's BKT United Rugby Championship hopes have been ended after a 33-21 defeat to the Glasgow Warriors, who march on to a Murrayfield semi-final against Bulls or Munster next week.
Stuart Lancaster’s side were left to rue a spate of second half injuries in an entertaining quarter-final at Scotstoun, but the home side were good value for their victory as their scrum and maul laid the foundation for their attack to shine.
Out-half Josh Ioane had been Connacht’s best player prior to departing for a head injury assessment on the hour, while Shayne Bolton also left with an arm injury, before his replacement Hugh Gavin was stretchered off with a serious leg injury.
It was 7-7 after a back and forth first half, where Cian Prendergast’s early try was cancelled out by Patrick Schickerling, before Kyle Steyn and Kyle Rowe’s tries put Glasgow into a commanding 21-7 lead early in the second half.
Connacht never wilted, with Dave Heffernan and Finlay Bealham both forcing their way over during the second half, but on each occasion they made errors on the restart, allowing the Warriors in for scores to maintain their two-try buffer.
With Champions Cup qualification secured, the province had nothing to lose at Scotstoun, and started in bullish fashion, with some excellent work from Ioane putting them into prime attacking territory, and while they were held up over the line just two minutes in, they didn't have to wait long for a score as Prendergast forced his way over the line, and Sam Gilbert converted for an early 7-0 lead.
A couple of penalties put Glasgow on the attack straight away, and after a slew of pick-and-go efforts the Warriors got back level on 10 minutes when Schickerling drove over the line.
The Connacht discipline was crumbling, and Sam Illo was sent to the sin-bin soon after following repeated infringements, but Glasgow failed to capitalise on that extra man, hooker Johnny Matthews seeing his potential try disallowed for obstruction.
Both sides could have added scores before the break, most notably when Ioane broke free for Connacht after intercepting a ball on the ground, but Steyn’s brilliant recovery tackle saved the day and kept the scores level at half time.
It was also Steyn who created and scored his side’s second try on 44 minutes, as Glasgow took control of the game.
First, he took advantage of a loose Sam Gilbert kick to drill a 50:22 into Connacht territory early in the second half, and from the resulting lineout the Warriors earned penalty advantage at the maul before drawing the ball wide for the winger to run in and score.
They had a second disallowed try on 48 minutes for a forward pass, but soon after they moved into a 14-point lead when a brilliant strike play from a scrum in the Connacht 22 sent Josh McKay through a seam in the defence, George Horne kicking the conversion for a 21-7 lead.
Three penalties in quick succession allowed Connacht finally get on the attack, and they eventually forced their way over the line through Heffernan’s pick-and-go effort, as Glasgow lost Alex Samuel to the sin-bin.
At 21-14, they were right back in the game, but just four minutes later they let their guard down at a ruck, with giant second row Jare Oguntibeju rumbling through a gap to restore the two-try lead.
Still, Connacht came back for more, and on 71 minutes Finlay Bealham got them back within seven points when he managed for squirm his way over the line, with Gilbert’s conversion leaving it delicately poised, 28-21, heading down the stretch.
Hopes of a comeback didn’t last long.
From the restart, Sean O’Brien failed together the ball as it spilled into touch, and from the resulting lineout Steyn ran in for his second try of the night to kill the game off, ending Connacht’s season and securing the Warriors a semi-final date next week.
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