Bad night as Connacht men take a battering in Scotland

Glasgow Warriors 43              

Connacht 17

THE overall Connacht perspective on Friday’s heavy loss in Glasgow probably needs to take in what happened in Rome on the same weekend as this was a weekend of positives and negatives for the province.

Four involved in a Six Nations match day squad, a man of the match display from Ultan Dillane and Jack Carty’s first cap all add up to positives, but there’s no hiding from the fact that in their absence, Connacht looked a little disjointed and devoid of ideas.

For the first time this season Connacht were on the wrong end of a hiding in this competition. Glasgow, devoid of 14 Scottish internationals, again demonstrated their strength in depth while Andy Friend’s side looked off the pace from an early stage when chances were spurned and mistakes punished. It was a throwback to last season and an example of how much this group still has to learn.

The result only serves to underline how critical Saturday’s home clash with the Ospreys has now become. Connacht are level with Cardiff in third but behind on tiebreakers for the moment and sit three points clears of this weekend’s opponents who lost to Munster in Swansea on Friday. Five games remain, three at home and those are the fixtures that they can’t afford to lose if they are to stay in contention.

This was a wake up call for Connacht for sure, while in Rome, Ultan Dillane and Quinn Roux were putting in a good shift with Ireland along with Bundee Aki and the new call up Carty.

Connacht looked well short of their best in Scotland. Conor Fitzgerald continued his steep learning curve at ten and struggled against a high octane home side that had all the momentum from the second minute and while the visitors showed some incisiveness during the opening exchanges, the signs were ominous.

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

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.