Knock On

Worcester 21
Connacht 26

By Rob Murphy

The final two minutes of the eighty at Sixways on Saturday afternoon neatly encapsulated all that had gone before in this Amlin Challenge Cup Pool clash.

(pic: Sporting Occasions)

Connacht held possession with a two point lead and were within touching distance of a third successive European victory and their first win on English soil in twelve years.

The visitors packed down for a scrum just outside the Worcester 22 and in one perfectly timed, clean, thunderous drive, they sent the home pack trundling backwards. The loud shrill of a whistle for a penalty was greeted with clinched fists from the Connacht players. A powerful statement to round off a fine win.

The foundations of this victory stemmed from Connacht’s set piece dominance but was backboned by an intensity from one to 15 in the starting line up that ensured Worcester could never settle, never really get into the driving seat and establish a foothold.

The aforementioned intensity forced key errors and built self belief. A touch of class in the backline also helped. The home coach Mike Ruddock called the defeat ‘a gift’ and lamented the ‘luck of Irish’ suggesting ‘Santa came early’. It seemed a little classless to take it as far as he did but Guinness Premiership coaches often find defeats to outside teams hard to fathom.

He wasn’t completely misguided as Connacht certainly got their fair share of luck. They were 10-3 down and had just  survived an onslaught on their line when Ian Keatley intercepted a stray Alex Grove pass on half way and cantered home.

Fionn Carr’s try was brilliantly created by Ta’Auso and Duffy but came from a Worcester knock-on and the second half try from Sean Cronin came from a lineout overthrow but the idea that Worcester dominated outside of those scores really is skewing the truth into the realms of fantasy and both Worcester scores also came from basic errors.

The home side were outplayed in the lineout. They had the edge in the early scrums and even picked up two penalties but once French referee Jerome Garces got to grips with Taumoepeau’s propensity not to straighten his back at the engage, the pendulum swung decisively towards Connacht’s excellent props Brett Wilkinson and Robbie Morris.

The pressure exerted in the lineout by Bernie Upton and Mike McCarthy caused havoc for Worcester, Chris Fortey was hauled off in the second half but his replacement Lutui fared worse and had already given away one throw before he bottled it on his own line for Cronin’s vital score.

Connacht were determined from the outset not to be dragged into a English Premiership style slug-fest. Sixways stadium is overlooked by a scramble track for dirt bikes which seems an apt description of your average English top flight game.

Worcester had shown in their most recent outings that they could mix it with the top packs in England at the breakdown, Saracens and London Irish could only manage draws in tight tense games.

The Connacht tactic however was simply to either kick for corners or shift the ball beyond the twelve channel as much as possible and Aidan Wynne and Niva Ta’auso executed that to perfection especially in the second half when the visitors had established a foothold and garnered the required confidence.

Conditions were ideal on Saturday in what was a crisp cold west country afternoon. Connacht started poorly and the opening 15 minutes was littered with errors from the visitors.  Tom Wood’s first half try came from a mix up under a high ball and some brilliant work from winger Chris Pennell but it was a bit of a giveaway and left the score at 10-3.

It could have been worse had the finished a second chance not long after but the game then turned on that intercept try from Keatley. All of a sudden the men in green had confidence and self belief. The Fionn Carr try was simply brilliant and made by the sheer class of Connacht’s most important backline component Ta’auso in the centre he linked with the excellent Gavin Duffy before releasing Carr.

The sides were locked at 16 each in the second half with the respective boots of Willie Walker and Ian Keatley having helped each side along when Sean Cronin received a gift at the back of a Worcester lineout ten metres from their own line and crashed over.

That paved the way for victory and although Worcester scored a second try through Walker, they didn’t convert which kept Connacht noses in front up until the last couple of minutes, the introduction of Troy Nathan paved the way for one of his trade mark thumping clearances and set up that final scrum.

Even as Connacht set themselves for the set piece there was a sense that Worcester were about to collapse under the pressure. The confidence oozed from the men in green. Jamie Hagen was now on for Robbie Morris, Michael Swift and Mike McComish had entered the back row in place of Ray Ofisa and the hugely impressive George Naoupu.

There is work to be done yet before a home quarter final is secured and defeat on Friday will open the door for Montpellier. However more importantly after a less than gracious reaction from the home mentors Connacht will want to make a statement on Friday and finish the job with a solid home display. A memorable afternoon and perhaps the launching pad for better days ahead.

Worcester Warriors: C Latham; C Pennell, A Grove, D Rasmussen, M Benjamin; W Walker, J Arr; A Black, C Fortey, T Taumoepeau; G Rawlinson, C Gillies; T Wood, P Sanderson, K Horstmann.

Replacements: O Sourgens for Taumoepeau, half-time; A Lutui for Fortey, 52 mins; G Kitchener for Rawlinson, 52 mins; M Jones for Pennell, 57 mins; C McRae for Rasmussen, 72 mins; J Collins for Sanderson, 73 mins.

Connacht: G Duffy; L Bibo, N Ta’auso, A Wynne, F Carr; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris; M McCarthy, B Upton; J Muldoon (capt), R Ofisa, G Naoupu.

Replacements: M McComish for Naoupu, 70 mins; M Swift for Ofisa, 70 mins; J Hagan for Morris, 70 mins; T Nathan for Bibo, 72 mins.

Ref: J Garces (France)

 

 Connacht Captain John Muldoon: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Connacht Coach Michael Bradley: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download