Heartbreaking loss for Connacht in Challenge Cup thriller

Connacht 32

A truly sensational 80 minutes of rugby came down to the last few seconds on Saturday night as 14,887 supporters held their breath and watched Fionn Carr dance through tackles and burst towards the line.

At that point, for all the world the game was over, the fiery winger in the twilight of his rugby career was about to write his own place in west of Ireland rugby folklore.

Seconds later, he was on the ground after an ankle tap tackle ended his progress and John Cooney’s supporting run had also being halted. Connacht finished the game with a series of phases on the home 22 while Grenoble fans held their hands on their heads hoping for a mistake and the 400 strong travelling army of Connacht fans hoped for a miracle. It didn’t come and relief swept through the home stadium.

A game that had ebbed and flowed had concluded with everyone on their feet in the atmospheric state of the art stadium. The westerners had stunned the home crowd with three brilliant, outrageous, mesmerising tries, all orchestrated by Matt Healy’s electric pace from full back in the first half to lead 19-3 before Grenoble pegged them back to 19-16 by half time.

In the second half, Healy crowned his all encompassing performance with an early try that put his side back in control. O’Leary’s boot had them up to 29-16 ahead again but back Grenoble came with their half backs sparking a revival that ultimately led to a Denis Buckley sin bin and two vital tries during the ten minute spell.

Buckley returned on 71 minutes and turned the game on its head once more by winning a penalty on the restart. Replacement scrum half John Cooney stood up and delivered the three points for a 32-30 lead but that only paved the way for one more score, a drop goal in fact, from the hosts. The winning score.

On statistics alone, this was a hard game to make sense of seconds after Matthew Carley had blown the final whistle. Grenoble owned the ball and bossed the territory stats yet Connacht made most of the gains with ball in hand, scored four tries to their hosts three and produced the game’s most electric moments.

So why did Grenoble triumph? in short it came down to Jonathan Wisniewski, a journeyman ten in his 30s with long past memories of international rugby, popping his head above the crowd and saying, ‘I’ve still got it’, ‘I’m still very relevant’ and ‘a game of cup rugby against a feisty and skilled opponent is my time to shine’.

Full coverage in this week's Connacht Tribune.