Tom Swinson went over for Glagow's bonus-point try

The Irish province claimed back-to-back wins over Glasgow last May to reach the PRO12 final but any hopes of a repeat were quickly put to bed as they were cut to shreds by Gregor Townsend's men.

The Glasgow back three were in devastating form with man of the match Stuart Hogg teeing up Tommy Seymour for two first-half tries before getting on the scoresheet himself after the interval, while Italy wing Leonardo Sarto also impressed on his debut.

Tim Swinson, Sila Puafisi and Sean Lamont also touched down in the second period as Glasgow strolled to victory, with winger Niyi Adeolokun grabbing Connacht's sole score.

In typically windy conditions at the Sportsground, Glasgow made a bright start and opened the scoring after 10 minutes.

Good work by the Warriors forwards saw Peter Horne and Stuart Hogg combine to put Tommy Seymour over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Connacht burst into life on 22 minutes when a good pass from the returning Eoin Griffin released Bundee Aki, but he took contact instead of releasing Cian Kelleher down the wing and a great chance was lost.

Henry Pyrgos extended Glasgow's lead on 25 minutes but they were reduced to 14 men moments later when Ryan Wilson received a yellow card for a late tackle on Jack Carty.

Connacht capitalised on their numerical advantage as good hands from props Denis Buckley and Finlay Bealham saw the ball worked out wide to Griffin, and Adeolokun held off Henry Pyrgos to score.

However, Glasgow quickly responded with Stuart Hogg again turning provider for Tommy Seymour. The Scotland full-back drew two Connacht defenders before finding his winger, who stepped inside Kelleher to give the visitors a 13-5 lead at the break.

Glasgow picked up where they left off after the restart with Leonardo Sarto held up over the line, but they bagged their third try on 45 minutes when a training ground move cut Connacht open.

Henry Pyrgos received possession at a scrum and passed to half-back partner Peter Horne, and after a decoy run from Sam Johnson fixed the Connacht defence, Stuart Hogg darted between Griffin and Matt Healy to score the try his performance deserved.

The bonus point was secured on 52 minutes when further fine attacking play from the Glasgow back three resulted in lock Tim Swinson diving over from close range, and Henry Pyrgos converted to give his side a 27-5 lead.

Sila Puafisi scored a similar effort six minutes later, the prop touching down to help banish the memories of his red card at the Sportsground last May, and fellow replacement Sean Lamont also crossed on his 100th appearance as Glasgow lay down an impressive early marker.