Click here for my pre-match HarpinBoo recording “Connacht, Cunning & Consensus”
At halftime in the Aviva stadium a few weeks ago, Leinster and Munster were tied at 3-3 and after a ridiculous wait due to congestion on the steps, we hooked up in the foyer with some friends who were seated further along the East Stand.
I had thoroughly enjoyed both the game AND the atmosphere up to that point (well I guess I enjoyed it even more after fulltime!), but one of the guys I met said as his opening comment : “This is a dreadful game of rugby”
“You serious?” I replied. “What were you expecting? Even though this is a league match, it’s still cup rugby, and when you see it like that, you can’t but enjoy what’s going on.” He didn’t respond, probably muttering “pretentious git” under his breath after I went back to my seat, but at least I stood by my conviction!
It was much the same when Connacht played Ulster to a 15-15 draw a few weeks ago, and it was much the same in Galway on Saturday. Given how much the Irish provinces know about each other, matches between them are always going to be ones you should be happy enough to win at any cost.
And so I had to force myself to leave my purist hat on the rack watching this match, and be happy with the final scoreline, even if it did flatter Leinster, and even if Dominic Ryan’s last-gasp try (pic) did thwart my 5-point victory prediction.
But if you held a gun to my head and made me fault our performance, I would have to go to our choice of attacking options.
Sure, we’re further down the Magners League table than we’d like, and sure, I’m usually all for attacking the bonus point, but the way Connacht were set up defensively I’m not so sure kicking for the corner was the right idea on 24 and 26 minutes respectively when there were easy chances for Sexton to make up for his missed conversion of Nacewa’s try.
What a try that was, by the way. Heaslip may have thrown a block on Cronin to create the gap for Isaac Boss, but it was no more than our scrumhalf deserved and he still had a lot of work to do to get the ball to his left winger, who didn’t need to break stride to catch it and beat his tackler to score.
By rights, we should have had at least another 6 points on the board as Ian Keatley was lining up a seemingly straightforward penalty kick right before halftime – instead, it would have put his team into a psychologically-crucial lead going into the break.
But unfortunately for most of the 4,500 strong sellout Galway crowd, Keatley missed. To be honest, though I haven’t seen him play week-in week-out, I find it hard to rate him based on what I’ve seen of him. He is yet to show me he could perform at Heineken Cup level, let alone an international one.
Despite their outhalf’s shortcomings, Connacht had plenty of talent on the park to do similar damage to that they inflicted on us last April, but it was not to be. Their commitment to their defensive duties, while admirable, was also their undoing when it came to offense. Until Sean Cronin almost created something out of nothing in the dying minutes which needed to be mopped up by a risky slide tackle by Sexton, they never really looked like crossing our line.
And it was our own poor decision making that led to that Cronin chance in the first place. We were up by 5 and had been running through a good set of phases with the clock ticking down. Why did Sexton need to step into the pocket for a drop goal at that precise moment in that particular spot on the field? Surely the option was to get some more phases going and bring the ball into a more central position?
All throughout the game the Westerners were laying off us at the breakdown which gave them more men on their defensive line and made it harder to break through. We only seemed to cop on to this after the break, and although Sexton put some kicks into the corner his Munster nemesis would’ve been proud of, I personally think easy drop goals were better options than crossfield kicks when we got close.
But I’m really only nitpicking so I can flesh out this post. By rights I should just repeat what I said in my post-match tweet and sign off:
Delighted with the win. After our last two trips there the four points were the main thing.
As for Connacht, they definitely deserved a bonus point on the day…perhaps they let their pride get the better of them right at the death when they chose to run at us from deep rather than throw in the towel.
Still, they did have a legitimate beef against George Clancy moments before for his decision not to award them the scrum once they put an almighty heave against the head. To be honest with you, I have no idea how we’re meant to interpret scrums anymore. Seems to be a lottery as to what the referee is going to penalise, and as for taking two minutes off the clock to set one up, (Nacewa’s late knock on came at 73:22 and the scrum didn’t happen legally until 75:22) I wasn’t complaining, but it was still a joke.
Honourable mention in the performance department goes to Boss and Shaggy but I was delighted Richardt Strauss got man of the match after his Wembley wobbles. Super running with the ball matched by nigh-on flawless lineouts. With Fogarty doubtful to return anytime soon, the South African-born hooker’s continued fitness could be crucial for our season, no disrespect to Jason Harris-Wright.
Hopefully we’ll be able to avenge our Murrayfield defeat next week and go into the Autumn Internationals in a much healthier position on the points table. Given that it’s at the RDS and I’ll be there, however, I may be more demanding of a good display.
