Glasgow Warriors 29

Connacht 27

By JOHN FALLON

CONNACHT, having secured at least seventh place in the table earlier in the day when Munster held the Sharks to a draw, were unable to keep up their winning run in Scotstoun. In the process, their hopes of winning seven league games in-a-row for the first time ever also disappeared.

They will now face a quarter-final trip away to Ulster on Friday week and are assured of Champions Cup rugby next season provided three things do not happen.

Sharks, who finished in eighth but do not qualify for Champions Cup as one of the Welsh sides has to be accommodated — in this case Cardiff, who finished tenth —under a rule which finishes this season, will get Connacht’s spot if they go on and win the league.

That’s unlikely to happen, not least as the Durban side are away to Leinster in the quarter-finals. Connacht will also lose out if Benetton or Scarlets win the European Challenge Cup. Benetton are away to Toulon in the semi-final of that competition this weekend while Scarlets, who only won six of their 18 URC games, are at home to Glasgow Warriors in the last four on Saturday.

Connacht can do nothing about that now other than hope that neither get through this weekend’s semi-finals against Glasgow and Toulon.

But they were always in contention against a Glasgow side who were unable to improve on fourth in the table. Glasgow made a brilliant start with flanker Rory Darge putting his full-back Huw Jones over for the opening try just 50 seconds after the start, with Tom Jordan adding the conversion.

But Connacht were not rattled and they hit back with a superb scrum winning a penalty try after six minutes. Glasgow hit back with out-half Jordan juggling the ball as he raced through to score after 17 minutes.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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