IT was a home debut to savour, but so nearly one to forget.
For Mike Blair, his Glasgow Warriors bow was a reminder of the form that once made him Scotland captain and a British and Irish Lion.
But the fragility of the team as it conceded 26 points with only three in reply after having led 30-6 was a stark reminder of how tough it is going to be while the World Cup is on and players are away.
"The result, the four points for a win, that is the positive," he said.
"With the group of guys we have got here, – 20 missing at the World Cup and Taqele Naiyaravoro still to join up, a lot of guys playing their first games for the club, their first pro games – then to get a win like that against a Connacht team with former Super Rugby players in there, Irish players really pushing through the ranks, that is a really good result for us.
"The team we had on at the end was really inexperienced, really young and to shut that game out against a very good, experienced Connacht team was a great result for us. You take the win, that is outstanding. It was 30-6 at one stage and looking very comfortable. A few things did not go right but the resilience to be able to get back into the game and to build our way back was really good."
There was a reminder of old glories there as Blair pushed and prodded the attack in the first half to produce those tries for Glenn Bryce, Scott Cummings and Rob Harley, and the man of the match came his way as a result, but there was nothing the scrum half could do as the Connacht scrum power took control of the game and left the Scots sweating on a match that should have been comfortable.
"We will take it," said Blair. "The line out went pretty well on the whole, we had some good plays off driving line outs, but we did not get things quite right with the scrum. Sometimes these things happen. They have a very strong scrum, we know that from last year when it was the strongest in the league and we just about dealt with it."
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