After a long summer break, Connacht and Glasgow Warriors treated us to a new-season classic on the opening day of the 2018-19 Guinness PRO14.
Six tries, six penalties and a late drop goal ensured their clash at the Sportsground will not be easily forgotten.
And, with the current season set to resume after a long hiatus, now is the perfect time to re-live it.
The build-up
As always on the opening day of a new campaign, optimism was high for both sides.
The Warriors were excellent in 2017-18 and topped the Conference A table, only to fall at the hands of an inspired Scarlets in the semi-finals.
Connacht, meanwhile, won just six of their 21 matches and finished sixth in the same conference, but had overseen a squad overhaul, with the likes of JP Cooney and John Muldoon retiring.
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Both sides, for different reasons, needed a fast start to put last season behind them.
Breathless
The points started early and barely stopped in a pulsating first half, with the Warriors scoring the opening try within two minutes.
Full-back Stuart Hogg placed a superb kick in behind the Connacht defence for his Scotland colleague Tommy Seymour to chase down, and the winger, showing blinding pace, won the foot race and scored.
Peter Horne missed the conversion and Connacht rebounded strongly, with Jack Carty kicking a penalty shortly after.
If attacking rugby, aided by some slack defending, is your thing, then the first 40 here would almost be the perfect game.
Both teams shipped numerous penalties, missed tackles and left wide-open space.
Connacht hit the front for the first time when Carty’s high cross-kick expertly found wing Cian Kelleher to score a try, but minutes later they left a gaping hole down the blindside of a ruck.
George Turner didn’t need asking twice and he powered through to put the Warriors back ahead, but then their defence went missing and Connacht prop Finlay Bealham steamed over.
Carty made the conversion to make it 17-12 but, in a breathless first half, that was not the end of it. The Warriors went back to basics with ball in hand, running up the middle with their heavy forwards.
And that paid dividends as Ryan Wilson, eventually, benefited from Connacht’s increasingly tired tackling to break through and score.
That left it at 17-17 but Connacht edged into a six-point lead at half-time when two silly Warriors errors presented Carty with two penalty chances, both of which he unnervingly sent flying through the posts.
Warrior spirit
Glasgow conceded nine penalties in the first half alone but whatever rollicking head coach Dave Rennie gave to his men at half-time made little difference.
A tenth penalty was awarded to Connacht early in the second half and Carty gladly booted through another.
To make things worse, Adam Hastings was sent to the sin-bin 15 minutes before the end and the writing looked on the wall for the visitors.
However, Glasgow’s defence kept Connacht at bay and, with five minutes remaining, when the referee awarded them a penalty inside their own half, they turned defence into attack decisively.
Hogg hammered the ball into touch at the Connacht five-metre line and from the resulting lineout Adam Ashe scored the try. Hogg converted to reduce the gap to just two points and gave the 14 men some hope.
With Hastings back on the pitch, Glasgow kept the ball and hammered away at the Connacht line. However, in contrast to the first half, the men in green stood strong and prevented the visitors from encroaching too close to the try-line.
Hogg took matters into his own hands though, perfectly slotting through a drop goal to give Glasgow a one-point lead – but even then, they struggled to see it out.
Connacht came roaring back and Glasgow appeared nervous again. They lost a line-out inside their own half, and Craig Ronaldson nearly scored a drop goal of his own for the hosts.
Then Glasgow shipped another penalty in the dying seconds and Ronaldson had another chance to win it. Instead, he hit the post, allowing Glasgow to escape with the points bringing an end to a breathless match.
