Glasgow Warriors v Connacht Rugby, 26 September

George Carlin wrote:Great summaries Bru and Dot - thanks very much.

Am delighted with a BP win - it's more than I was hoping for, actually.

A Simply Mesmeric Try wrote:I missed the game and am desperate to find highlights... or the whole game... Anyone know where I may find such a link? The YouTube Pro12 highlights seem to appear midweek :-/

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:Club twitter feed says highlights available tomorrow evening.

RDW_Scotland wrote:How did Kellock play?

IanBru wrote:Well well well... Jimbo old bean, let me first say that the score line doesn't really reflect the nature of the match. I wouldn't say we were lucky, but we scored points when we had our chances, while Connacht didn't always. We certainly didn't dominate.

I'll say this right now: if Connacht play like that for the rest of the season, they'll be in Europe for certain and possibly even challenging for a playoff spot. Without a doubt, they have combined their traditional niggly, awkward style of play (which is why I'm always so worried when we play them) with a real hard edge in attack, particularly through the forwards. Their back play actually reminds me of Glasgow's but without the finesse and obvious practice that we see with the Warriors (like Connacht are B-4 to Glasgow's Data, for any TNG fans out there). The thing that most impressed me was their speed to the breakdown and their overall defensive line speed. These things layer a big part in neutering Glasgow for significant portions of the match.

Be in no doubt, Connacht will worry the vast majority of teams they come up against this year.

Glasgow were solid, if unspectacular for the first half. They didn't seem to be trying their normal offloading game, but they got some good value from kicking in behind Connacht, particularly with the wind behind them. Two tries and a ten point lead at halftime were about right.

In the second half, with Connacht spreading the ball a bit more and gaining the upper hand in the scrum (for sure, Reid-MacArthur-Murray is superior to Jerry-Bryce-Du Klerk) I was getting a bit worried. What impressed me about Glasgow is that they played smart rugby - they built a lead, maintained it long enough to force Connacht to play 50/50 rugby, then fed off the mistakes, with Bennett's interception try being the classic example.

And now for my final thought: while Henry Pile Cream was good tonight, my MoM award definitely goes to Rob Harley. Like fine wine, he just gets better with age, and he is absolutely central to our defensive structure. If Kelly Brows really is seen as a 7 in a Scotland shirt, then the case for the Ginga Ninja to  make the 6 shirt his own is fast becoming inescapable.