Connacht’s lack of indepth cover is exposed by Ulster

Connacht 12

John Fallon in Ravenhill

THERE’S a price to be paid for everything and sport has an uncanny knack of twisting events in a peculiar way, so we shouldn’t have been the least surprised by the events of last weekend.

Mack Hansen arrived in Galway last summer and, like any other lad brought in from around the world, it’s a bit hit and miss whether they will fly or flop. Hansen has soared, he made the starting 15 in Connacht and lit up the place. The unknown from the same city as Andy Friend left Canberra with just about nobody, including the Brumbies who reluctantly let him go, sure how he would fare out.

Now they know. A man of the match on his Irish debut as they thumped Wales, he’s suddenly the player of the moment and if Connacht didn’t get his scrawl across a contract extension before last weekend then they better be prepared to add a few noughts.

His performance in a team where Bundee Aki also triumphed and Finlay Bealham came off the bench with Jack Carty and Dave Heffernan providing cover, is a big boost for Connacht where one of the measures of progress and success is how many they get into the Irish squad.

But the downside of that is that it weakens who’s available for action when they are on international duty and, so far at least, Connacht just don’t have the resources to backfill their positions with enough quality.

Hence, it’s a tough balancing act and then, as only sport can do, the guy who suffered the most by Hansen’s inclusion, the Ulster winger Robert Baloucoune, is sent back to his province to nurse his wounds.

He did it by scoring two tries against Connacht on Friday night. And if this display by Dan McFarland’s men was a reply to the drubbing they got from Connacht in the Aviva Stadium in October, then Baloucoune’s superb showing was a timely reminder to Andy Farrell about what he can do.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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