Lam left with plenty to ponder as disjointed Connacht fail to impress

On a newly installed artificial pitch in the Welsh capital, a young home side were too wily for Pat Lam’s Connacht on Friday night, getting the better of the contest thanks to the boot of Rhys Patchell and some erratic discipline from the visiting  Connacht side.

Referee Claudio Blessano was officiating just his fourth professional match – as is the style of the Pro 12 organisers, up-and-coming referees are invariably tried out in games involving Connacht or the two Italian sides, and this was another example of how frustrating it can be.

Not that Connacht can blame the result on that, an error-strewn and ill-disciplined second-half cost them a chance at victory or even a losing bonus point. They conceded seven penalties in total and all this after a very promising first half where a late Dan Parks penalty had Connacht in front.

Parks was again hot and cold with the kicks at goal and indecisive in open play but Connacht still had some promising early moments with Matt Healy scoring his second try of the season early in the game after some good incisive attacking play involving Eoin Griffin and Robbie Henshaw in the build-up.

The Arms Park crowd would have been concerned with the manner in which Connacht had carved them open, and even with Patchell’s three first-half kicks, it was far from a comfortable situation trailing 10-9 at the break.

However, Patchell kicked four second half penalties to seal the win and the home side never looked under any pressure in the second 40 without setting the world alight in attack either. Alex Cuthbert was back on the wing after his Lions heroics but he had virtually no opportunity to shine.

The game was preceded with a minute silence for former Wales and Lions legend Cliff Morgan, who died on August 29 at the age of 83. Heavy showers before kick-off led to many handling mistakes from both sides in the early stages. Parks and Patchell missed early penalties as the teams found their feet.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.