Bunty Aki’s second-half effort and a Jack Carty penalty led Konach to a 28-24 Guinness PRO14 victory over the Glasgow Warriors in Galway.
RT finished with 13 points, and another Irish international from the province, Quinn Rooks, also defeated Western Scottish opposition for the first time since April 2017.
Glasgow’s pressure ended just before half-time, with Adam Hastings leading Nick Grigg 7-3 on an early penalty from Carty.
An attempt by Aki, Rooks, Hugh Jones and Aki again created some exciting exchanges. Tommy Seamer’s score was 25-24 in the 70th minute, but Connach had four minutes left thanks to a Carty kick.
In the first half Oli Cable was penalized for a side entry and in the second minute Karthik was allowed to open the scoring.
Karthik and his opponents Hastings lost penalty attempts after 11 and 20 minutes, respectively. Scotland stand-off shot after Rooks in the second row sinned for an unarmed tackle.
Co-captains Fraser Brown and Jones put in a great performance. Aki and Brown demonstrated the ability of the breakdown to score penalties.
In the 32nd minute, Conach pulled a Glasgow drive but they agreed just before the short whistle. Hostings, armed with a penalty, sent center Grig over with a half-break and a short pass.
Increasing hosting resumed five minutes later and then a penalty was added. Aki’s tri-scoring exploded and Konach hit back, rewarding the excellent build-up play from Tom Farrell. Carty changed it to 10-10.
Farrell, Alex Wooden and Peter Sullivan extended the Glasgow defense before Rooks smashed past Seymour’s tackle.
Glasgow went 17-17 when Jones skillfully weaved through the midfield gap to convert Hastings. Three minutes later Scott Cummings’ penalty was restored and Cardi Connach’s lead was restored.
The 200 home fans allowed on the Sports ground followed even better, and John Porch happily dotted Aki with a great break from the depths through Wooten’s dub kick. Karthik missed the touchline transition.
The Warriors’ attack ended when Greg Seymour was stopped on the right side to overcome an eight-point deficit. Hastings added extras again, with only Carty’s 40m penalty ending Connach’s six consecutive defeats to Glasgow.
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