A miserable opening to new season for limited Connacht

Connacht 10

Rob Murphy in Parc Y Scarlets

THE eyes of the rugby world were elsewhere last weekend but those who might have missed Connacht’s latest defeat in west Wales could easily have bluffed their way through telling the story of how it all panned out. This was the same old story for Connacht in the famous rugby town of Llanelli where they haven’t won for 16 years. Out battled and out thought.

An all-round flat display, interrupted by one positive spell of attacking rugby during a second half fightback, left Connacht without even the solace of a losing bonus point as the final whistle sounded at a saturated Parc Y Scarlets. The home side, missing 14 players at the World Cup, had proven too strong and cute for a visiting outfit that were down only two and had finished ahead of them in last year’s competition.

In brief, the game was error strewn and scrappy for the first half with the Scarlets notching two tries, one at the midway point from the speedster Stefan Evans and one with five minutes to go from the talented Paul Asquith. In between, Connacht had shown tenacity and determination in defence but offered little in attack. After the break, the visitors fought back with a try from Eoghan Masterson, but a mistake on the restart gifted the hosts a two score lead again and as the rain fell, Connacht wilted.

At this early stage in the season, there’s little to glean from a result like this. For sure, the international absentees should have given Connacht an advantage but history shows that this is rarely, if ever, beneficial to teams from the west. For whatever reason, Connacht teams seem to drop down to the level of the opposition in such moments. Defeats to the Ospreys and Cardiff last year came in similar circumstances where international call ups had weakened the opponents.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.