Connacht’s European dream is turning into a nightmare

Glasgow 31

A large cloud of realism has enveloped the Sportsground since Saturday’s fifth successive defeat in league and cup. The dream of European Champions Cup qualification is not over just yet, but on current form, it seems further away than ever.

Since Joaquin Tuculet carved his way through the Connacht defence for the Cardiff Blues in the 10th minute of injury time at the Arms Park back in February, the westerners have been carved open at an alarming rate. A staggering 16 tries have been conceded in three games against Munster, Ulster and Glasgow. That’s not good top six form, irrespective of the opposition.

They have finally slipped out of the top six this week and now sit in eighth position, four points back from Edinburgh and five back from the Scarlets. Both of those sides nabbed bonus point wins at the weekend. The mood in the post game press conference was one of frustration and realism.

Before the game, the stats would have told you how this would all pan out: Glasgow score most of their tries in the 20 minutes before half time, Connacht concede most of theirs in that time and it needed a stern defensive stand and a conservative mindset from the home side in the closing minutes of the half just to ensure they were relevant in the contest beyond the halfway mark.

So the manner in which Connacht capitulated during that period is worrying. The entire match was panning out in a similar fashion to the Ulster contest two weeks previous. The Scots were far from their best and disintegrating at scrum time but they were playing the game at a different tempo, offloading, beating tackles and exploiting weak spots.

As Connacht trudged to the dressing room, they were 19-6 behind. Two penalties from five visits to the 22; two further penalty misses; a botched five metre scrum; and a missed tackle count to beat the band, said it all. Two of Glasgow’s tries had come from the hugely talented Nikola Matawalu; Stuart Hogg had got the other. Turnovers and one intercept pass from Robbie Henshaw had been to blame as 14 points were notched up in the final four minutes.

As predictable as Glasgow’s late first half surge had been, the Connacht comeback was equally easy to forecast. It serves only as a sign that this team has the potential to rattle the best in the league but ultimately lack the composure and self belief to keep control of a contest when frustration mounts and chances aren’t taken.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.