Battle weary Connacht men ship trouncing in final league outing

Date Published: {J}

Rob Murphy

THE mental attitude was way off on Friday night and Connacht took an end of season hammering as a result. A two point interval margin scarcely told the tale of first half Ulster dominance and four second half tries condemned the Westerners to yet another away defeat in the Magners League.

The result will be forgotten in a few weeks, the season overall has seen huge progress from Connacht's young squad and they will rightly be commended for that, but this game will serve as clear evidence to incoming coach Eric Elwood (not that he needed it) of some of the key problems that remain.

Ulster have finished ten points clear of Connacht. Bonus point wins at the Sportsground in September (Connacht's worst display of the season) and Ravenhill on Friday were the difference. Outside of that, the sides were neck and neck throughout the season. A sobering thought.

This season we have seen Connacht make huge strides forward in dealing with games where expectation levels where high. Home fixtures against Montpellier, Dragons, Worcester, Scarlets and Cardiff are prime examples of this but on the biggest Magners League days when Heineken Cup qualification was dependent on victories, they failed to spark. The home defeats to Ulster and a weakened Munster were prime examples.

Michael Bradley will be disappointed with this reality and he will no doubt be irked by Friday's lack lustre effort but he can leave Connacht rugby with his head held high thanks to a solid home record in domestic fare and a European run that saw this team capture the hearts and minds of sporting folk in the west of Ireland.

That surge is what will drive the province forward this summer, big home games with the likes of Saracens and Gloucester are rumored to be on the cards for pre season fare and with the bulk of the squad expected to be back in place with one year contracts for now, the opportunity for further progress is there.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.