Bonus point win leaves Connacht on target for Champions Cup

Connacht 26

THIS felt significant, really significant. After heartbreaking narrow defeats in Cardiff and Llanelli in recent months, Connacht dug out a thrilling come-from-behind victory in Newport last Thursday night. A win that included four well crafted tries and a perilous defensive stand in the dying seconds to cement their current standing among the top four in the Pro12.

Leaving aside all else, this means that Connacht now have nine wins from their 14 league outings so far this season as they edge closer to securing, at the very least, a spot in the top six of the standings and therefore a place in European rugby’s elite competition for next season.There’s work to be done and elements of their performances need polishing, but Pat Lam’s side are soaring right now.

It’s been a campaign for taking advantage of opportunities and Connacht are excelling in that department. In this one, they hardly dominated and by the 60 minute mark trailed 21-14. They seemed to be in a real hole, yet the introduction of the likes of Ultan Dillane, Eoin McKeon and Kieran Marmion from the bench galvanised and inspired the cause and drove them to victory.

The Dragons had the answers in the first half at least, while Connacht scored first through a neatly crafted try for Matt Healy after Caolin Blade linked with John Muldoon on a clever move from a scrum, the hosts hit back with a try from Adam Hughes when he blocked a Blade clearance kick and chased it down for the score.

As the high tempo start continued, back came Connacht with a Tiernan O’Halloran try after a lineout and maul garnered the momentum for a sweeping backs move. Yet young Dragons star Ashton Hewitt notched his sixth try in his last nine appearances soon after as the hosts led 15-14 at half time before two penalties replacement out half Angus O’Brien stretched the lead to seven.

The problems were mounting for Connacht, home scrum half Sarel Pretorius was at his very best, probing and sparking, emerging young out half O’Brien had come on for the injured Jason Tovey early on, but was winning the in-game kicking duel and the back row of Ben White, Nic Cudd and Nick Crosswell were in fine form.

Yet the final quarter of this game summed up what Connacht are all about at the moment. The impact of the bench certainly told a tale but the ability to figure out the problem and find a solution was key as the Connacht maul took shape. Substitute Finlay Bealham sorted out some initial issue at scrum time Marmion cancelled out some of the dominance around the fringes, which dynamic hooker Tom McCartney was central to the team’s successful line out and maul.

Full report in this week's Connacht Tribune.