Connacht come up just short

Connacht 12Toulon 19

Rob Murphy

Despite stern resistance, the curtain fell on Connacht’s dreams late on Friday evening. The valiant efforts of every player in green and an incredible home support to boot, wasn’t enough to keep this show on the road.

It was the night when Connacht rugby stood up on the big stage and demanded respect. They earned it for sure and in the process demonstrated to the country and beyond that they are more than just a spirited bunch of hard working players.

These past few months have shown Connacht rugby in a new light to those commentators and observers who rarely take a minute to even watch Ireland’s fourth province. It’s not just the work rate and bravery that has so many people enthused, it’s the rugby they're playing.

While Leinster and Munster struggle to rediscover their fire, and Ulster squabble, penniless Connacht have been on the rise, showing once and for all that budgets aren’t required to lay the foundations of success. Work rate, heart and endeavour are the cornerstone, then money comes into play.

Big spending Toulon have all the resources in the world, but they have had that money, through comicbook billionaire Mourad Boudjellal, for some years now and last year they were nearly relegated. This season they have discovered a team work ethic and the rewards are clear.

They won thanks to a strong front row that edged one of the best in the Magners League, while their back row had two no-holds barred superstars in the shape of Joe Van Niekerk and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

More than that, in Jonny Wilkinson they had a deadly boot and in Mafi Kefu and Gabriel Lovobolabu they had enough backline threat to get them into point scoring positions. In fact, but for some incredibly gutsy defence, those key areas would have yielded a bucket load of tries.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.