Two wins over Brive edged Connacht closer to the knockout stages, as the Westeners extended their unbeaten run in the pool to 4 games.
In the first game Connacht had to over turn around a halftime deficit, Brive led 19 – 17. Connacht had taken the lead through a Jack Carty penalty, who scored a total of 23 points. John Muldoon was sin binned, which allowed Brive to take the lead. They scored 2 tries while Connacht were down to 14, Tadjer and Cazenave touching down. They got a third after the sin bin had ended through Brugnat. Dillane and Marmion got tries for Connacht to cut the gap down to 2 points at half time. A penalty from Carty edged Connacht back in front, Tadjer touched down for a 2nd time to put Brive back ahead before Carty responded with a try. Carty kicked another penalty and Cian Kelleher got over the line. Namy got a try back for the hosts, but Connacht held out to win 31 – 38.
The second game was a much more comfortable win for Connacht, as Matt Healy scored 4 tries on their way to a 45-point win. The first try came 5 minutes in when Healy touched down, Carty converted and added a penalty. Gaetan Germain would touch down for Brive before Carty got over the line. Germain kicked a penalty late in the half, which would be it for the scoring from the visitors. The second half began with a Carty penalty, and a Matt Healy try. Healy would score again 8 minutes later to secure the bonus point for Connacht. Marmion, Healy, and Farrell added further tries to make it a comprehensive win by a score line of 55 – 10.
Elsewhere in the pool Worcester Warriors and Oyonnax exchanged victories. Worcester won the first match 35 – 14, scoring 4 tries in the process. Oyannax won their home match 27 – 20 to get their first points of this years tournament. They scored 3 tries.
Connacht top the pool on 19 points, Worcester are second with 12. Brive are 3rd with 7, Oyonnax are bottom with 4.
Ciarán Duffy (@TheVoiceDepth) is a Leinster supporter and self-proclaimed ‘big cheese’ of Post To Post (@PostToPostSport). He’ll write about anything rugby under the condition he gets to take it too seriously.
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