Knock On

Connacht 14
Edinburgh 27

Rob Murphy

Edinburgh started with eleven internationals on Friday night, so for those who subscribe to the notion that this is the defining factor in every rugby game, conceding only 27 points in the first half wasn’t all that bad. Those same experts must be bracing themselves for an unmerciful hammering when Portugal come to Galway in a couple of weeks, as they will start with 15 internationals.

Apologies for the cynicism but one gets a little tired of hearing this rubbish in the lead up to crucial games. Sure enough in a close contest when Connacht are playing at full pelt from the outset and beaten by a touch of class or some wily old composure – the experience of such players matters but that wasn’t the case on Friday night where a seemingly unmotivated Connacht collapsed in the first half and blew four vital league points.

Connacht are bottom of the table again and all of a sudden the period of uncontrolled giddy optimism is over. In fact the bookies now have Connacht at 4/6 to remain there by season’s end. In a way, the October revival could turn out to be nothing more than what Wall Street call ‘a dead cat bounce.’

There are still signs that this is more than merely a brief revival. In Fionn Carr Connacht now have a pure finisher, in Keatley they have a talent in the making. in Muldoon they have a spirited leader and in O’Connor and Duffy they have experience.

Technically they have improved immeasurably scoring six tries in four games all of which have come from open play moves with swift hands and good support lines aplenty. One gem against Leinster, three against Dax another beauty against Irish and two here – admittedly Duffy’s try was a straight-forward interception.

However, in terms of team motivation, nothing appears to have changed from previous campaigns. Games like Leinster and London Irish at home take care of themselves as the players hit the field fully charged. It’s the other less glamorous and arguably even more important matches against the Scottish and Welsh sides where Connacht constantly appear to be flat and lacking fire.

Friday’s game was a perfect example. The first half saw Edinburgh score five times with the aid of a crossfield wind, in the form of three tries and two penalties. The home side visited the Scottish 22” just once, constantly turned over possession, missed tackles, were blown away at the breakdown and lacked discipline. It truly was an awful forty minutes.

Then came the second half, with a charged up and more coherent Connacht in the ascendancy early. Fair enough they didn’t score and had Duffy not intercepted Di Luca’s wayward pass on the hour it could have been a whitewash but two tries were scored and not a point conceded by a Connacht side that appeared to be transformed in the body language department.

Edinburgh started the contest with a Simon Webster try in the corner on ten minutes. Although it came from a fortuitous break, the home crowd were audibly fuming at the manner in which the winger was allowed to nonchalantly meander towards the posts and make the conversion a formality. It summed up the attitude at that point and seemed to signal much worse was to follow.

That proved to be merely the beginning with Chris Patterson adding a second try from a quickly taken free kick that out witted a narcoleptic Connacht and Mike Blair waltzing through defence on 40 minutes for try number three. Patterson kicked two penalties and three conversion for good measure

Sure enough a clued in Connacht were more than able to match their opponents with their merry band of international untouchables and as well as Duffy’s intercept try they scored again through Carr after a turnover in their own 22 was brilliantly exploited by some deft play by Keatley, a rampaging break from replacement Dunne and a coolly plotted angle from the full back.

Connacht were back in the 22 minutes later with a charged up if slightly perplexed crowd behind them. The move broke down and Alistair Hogg spotted a gap at the fringe instigating an eighty metre move that concluded with John Muldoon being sin binned. That ended hopes of a bonus point but the home side showed heart and grit in preventing a bonus point fourth try being conceded.

Consider this before you close the book on this contest. The Connacht team that won the second half 14-0 against a team jam packed with Scottish internationals were at that stage in the contest playing with a second choice front row, a second choice second row and missing four key players in the backline.

This seems to suggest that in the likes of Loughney, Lynne, Brown and Gannon, Connacht have plenty of strength in depth and defeats like this are not about a lack of personnel. The Westerners were much the better team with all of those players on the field.

However, even if Connacht can find some consistent fire in the coming months, their next three league games are against Ulster away, where they haven’t won for over forty years, Munster at home, who they haven’t beaten in 22 years and Leinster away who they have never beaten twice in a season. Anyone else feeling a little pessimistic?

Connacht: F Carr; A Wynne, G Duffy, M Deane, J Hearty; I Keatley, F Murphy; J Lyne, S Cronin, R Loughney; M Swift, A Farley; J Muldoon, J O’Connor, C Rigney.

Replacements: A Browne for Swift, 25 mins; D Gannon for Farley, half-time; T Nathan for Hearty, 48 mins; K Campbell for Murphy, 52 mins; A Flavin for Cronin, 52 mins; A Dunne for Deane, 58 mins.

Edinburgh: C Paterson; M Robertson, B Cairns, N de Luca, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross; C Hamilton, B Gissing; S Newlands, A MacDonald, A Hogg.

Replacements: M Mustchin for Hamilton, 57 mins; J Houston for Webster, 66 mins; R Rennie for McDonald, 66 mins; G Kerrfor Cross, 68 mins.

Referee: J Jones (Wales).