Saturday 3rd September at 5.15pm will see Glasgow kick off their opening fixture in the 6th season of the Pro 12 and the 16th in the varied life of what started out as the Celtic League. The game itself will be the final leg of a remarkable triple header which will have seen Glasgow play 3 consecutive competitive fixtures against Connacht at the Sportsground.
Glasgow’s top 5 opening day facts:
- The club’s overall Round 1 record is 7 wins and 8 losses. (Home – 5W & 3L; Away 2W & 5L)
- The Warriors have only recorded 2 wins from the 5 opening weekends during the Pro 12 era.
- Glasgow have never won a season opener in Ireland (4 matches – Leinster, Connacht, Ulster – twice) collecting no league points in the process – and haven’t tasted victory in an away day first fixture since a 12-6 ‘classic’ at Dave Parade against the Dragons in 2008.
- The game against Connacht will even up Irish and Welsh opposition at 8 matches each – the club have never faced Italian or Scottish opposition on opening day.
- Slow starts have been the order of the day for the Warriors attack with only one Try Bonus Point collected in 15 attempts – down at Cardiff way back in 2002.
First try scorer
Someone who really ought to be looking forward to the opening fixture is Tommy Seymour who has scored or assisted on the Warriors season opening try the last 3 times he has played in Round 1 (having missed out last year due to the RWC). The full list of first try scorers is:
2015 – Mike Cusack
2014 – Peter Horne (assisted by Tommy Seymour)
2013 – Tommy Seymour
2012 – Tommy Seymour
2011 – Troy Nathan
2010 – DTH van der Merwe
2009 – Ruaridh Jackson
2008 – Thom Evans (in 2nd game)
2007 – James Eddie
2006 – Sam Pinder
2005 – Steve Swindall
2004 – Kenny Logan
2003 – Gareth Maclure
2002 – Michael Bartlett
2001 – Andy Nicol
Previous encounters
Glasgow have only played Connacht once in the opening round before – at the start of the 2004/05 season. The Warriors dominated possession but contrived to find any number of ways not to score (with simply dropping the ball seemingly the favoured option). Ultimately the men from the West ran out comfortable 31-15 winners, taking the BP to start their campaign and leaving Glasgow pointless going into Round 2. Even 12 years down the line there are a couple of evergreen characters who may turn out for their respective clubs in the 2016/17 season opener. Connacht’s warrior captain, John Muldoon started at 6 on that day back in 2004, as did the ageless Sean Lamont on the wing for Glasgow.
On Top Of The Moon 