Tries from Cronin and Duffy see Connacht back to winning ways

Connacht 16Bayonne 13

Rob Murphy

No one is quite sure exactly where Connacht sit at the moment in the greater scheme of things. On Friday, they redressed some of the imbalance caused by their out of character Italian implosion and maintained their unbeaten home record this season with a scrappy but deserved victory over Bayonne.

This game was set to do one of two things for Connacht. Either confirm the end of a promising beginning or postpone the opening chapter for just a few more pages. It’s done the latter and now comes Leinster at home this Saturday and Treviso away the following weekend. Once those games are done we’ll have most of the answers.

Here is what we know. It has been a rich and promising start to the new era overall. The away bogey has been expunged (in Glasgow), the bonus points have been nabbed (Llanelli and Dragons), tries have flowed (Llanelli and Dragons again), results have been dug out when backs were to the wall and questions were asked (Ulster and Bayonne).

Cardiff away offered nothing but the five day turnaround and a battling effort meant it was a ‘par effort’ at worst, then there is the nightmare in Prato, but that won’t rankle as much after Friday. It all leaves us with an open ended question: can Connacht maintain this pace through to the mini November break?

There were signs on Friday that suggest they can, despite a horrid first half display. Connacht burst clear on occasions and looked threatening but the simple turnovers in contact and sloppy hands in the loose were hindering any progress.

A shoddy refereeing effort from Italian Carl Damasco and Bayonne’s rock-solid line-out and powerful back five added to a low-scoring, evenly-matched dull affair. Bayonne had the balance of visits to the opposition 22 but made little impact. Two long range penalties from Sebastien Faugue were all they had in that first half.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.