Connacht 28-24 Glasgow: Danny Wilson bemoans Warriors’ indiscipline

Tommy Seymour’s late try not enough to prevent defeat in Galway

Connacht's Bundee Aki skips past Nick Grigg in Galway. Picture: Billy Stickland/INPHO/Shutterstock

Glasgow Warriors lost to Connacht for the first time since 2016 as Tommy Seymour’s late try was not enough to rescue Danny Wilson’s side at the Sportsground.

Nick Grigg gave Warriors a deserved lead at half-time when he crossed just before the break, while Huw Jones’ excellent score levelled matters again 19 minutes from time, but a strong finish from Connacht ensured they claimed the win and restricted Warriors to a bonus point.

“We’re very disappointed. I think our discipline let us down with way too many soft penalties in key areas and at key times in that game. There was a couple of poor decisions that left us pretty exposed,” said Wilson.

“To go away from home and score 24 points you should win the game so it tells us a lot abut the areas that we need to keep banging away at.”

A breakdown infringement from Oli Kebble inside his own 22 allowed Jack Carty to kick Connacht into a 3-0 lead after two minutes, and another early penalty concession resulted in a warning for Warriors, but they were let off the hook when Carty pulled his penalty to the left.

Playing into the setting sun the Warriors backline also had the elements against them, but the pressure was finally released when skipper Fraser Brown galloped clear following an overthrown lineout by the home side.

That kickstarted Warriors’ period of dominance and after 16 minutes they almost crossed for a try, but the final pass from Jones to Robbie Nairn didn’t go to hand.

After turning down a couple of kickable penalties Warriors were boosted when Quinn Roux was sin-binned for a no-arms tackle, but Adam Hastings somehow missed from close range.

With Connacht rushing up on the edge of their defensive line it was hard for Warriors to get the ball wide, but any time they did they made plenty of yardage.

And just before half-time one such break brought Warriors to within striking distance and Hastings’ offload sent Grigg over behind the posts. Hastings made sure of the extra points as Warriors took a 7-3 lead into the break.

After conceding nine first-half penalties, referee Craig Evans would have been keeping a close eye on Connacht, and six minutes after the restart he punished them harshly at the breakdown. Hastings added to their woes with a well struck penalty from ten metres.

There was no stopping the hosts when Bundee Aki popped up with a blistering line to score and Carty’s conversion levelled matters at 10-10.

A few minutes later Connacht took the lead again when Roux powered over, but just as the game appeared to be escaping them Jones ran in his side’s second try after a smart inside pass from Hastings.

Carty kicked Connacht into the lead 17 minutes from time and then Aki chased down Alex Wootton’s chip though to score his second try.

Warriors gave themselves a chance when Grigg sent Seymour clear with nine minutes remaining, but Carty kicked the clincher for Connacht.