Swashbuckling Connacht need to guard their own posts better
Inside Track with John McIntyre
THE Connacht rugby team has arrived at a crossroads and it remains to be seen what route they will be take in the short to medium term. The western set up has long since moved beyond its Cinderella province image by dint of their own hard work and achievements, but it looks as though the progress has stalled.
Andy Friend may be a more popular and engaging Head Coach than his predecessor Kieran Keane, who was sacked just one year into a three-year contract, but the Australian understandably cut a frustrated figure during the concluding rounds of the PRO14 and after their recent exit to Leicester in the European Challenge Cup.
When it comes to entertainment value and swashbuckling rugby, Connacht are almost head of the queue – I know loads of people in my home county of Tipperary, for instance, who love watching them play – but the reality is they are leaking like a sieve when it comes to defending their own try-line and this weakness is hurting them badly.
Connacht may have finished second in their Conference of this season’s PRO14, but they lost as many games – eight – as they won and that doesn’t say much for the overall competitiveness of the league. Sure, they had a brilliant Jack Carty inspired away win over Leinster during the campaign, but their tendency to concede soft tries is killing them.
In their last three PRO14 outings, they ratted Munster in Thomond Park but fell short by 20-17; conceded a last-gasp winning try to Edinburgh at the Sportsground; and lost a 22-point interval lead against the Scarlets when imploding in the second-half. Though Connacht had already secured their Champions Cup status for next season, this was a bad series of results.
It meant Connacht had to be low on confidence heading into their Challenge Cup knock-out clash with Leicester, especially as the province have lost all bar two of their previous 19 games on English soil. Their hosts held many of their regulars in reserve, but still managed to break through for two tries when they had a player a sin-bin. In professional rugby, that scenario is usually fatal.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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