Clinical Connacht clip the wings of Ospreys

Ospreys 15

A comfortable two score victory over the Ospreys is certainly something to be savoured at any point in a campaign as history shows Connacht have had plenty of struggles with this fixture over the years. This was far from a masterful display from Kieran Keane’s men though and, as is his style, he wasn’t shy in underlining as much afterwards.

There are lots of opportunities to nit-pick and we’ll get to them but the bottom line is this – Connacht have now won seven home games on the bounce at the College Road venue and after a nightmare start to the PRO14 season, the ship appears to be have steadied. The yearly objective of securing a place in the Champions Cup is now back on the table.

Not that Keane is interested in such details. The battle for fourth spot (which would be enough to secure a place in Europe’s elite competition) is intense with Connacht now one point behind Cardiff and seven clear of the Ospreys who lie in sixth, yet the Connacht coach says he pays no attention to all of that.

It’s all about the performance, win or lose, and Keane is only going to be focused on things like set piece execution, cohesion and application in defence. He didn’t see enough of that on Friday and said as much afterwards.

In some ways, it made sense that he wasn’t happy. The visitors had controlled the game for long periods, dominated at times but they had been repelled and frustrated by a resilient home effort and, in terms of score-taking efficiency, this was arguably Connacht’s most impressive display of the entire season.

The turning point of the game, in fact basically the winning moment, came in first half additional time. The Ospreys had been in control for the ten minutes before the break with one try on the board and a second seemingly on the cards. They trailed 6-5 but were retaining the ball well and winning key battles at the breakdown, then Dmitri Arhip made an egregious error, leading with the forearm while carrying the ball.

The penalty relieved the pressure on Connacht, but also opened the door for an unlikely late surge in the half. They kicked into Ospreys territory before winning a second penalty at a lineout on halfway and then set up one last attack in the corner. The execution from here was patient and powerful with Eoghan Masterson driving over the line from five metres out.

Full coverage in this week's Connacht Tribune.