By Rob Murphy
Connacht 21 - Llanelli Scarlets 24
It doesn’t matter and it shouldn’t matter that Connacht produced sparks and fireworks in the final 15 minutes to almost snatch a victory. It doesn’t matter and it shouldn’t matter that this was yet another narrow defeat, a third losing bonus point in a row.
They lost by less than seven again here, in four defeats over their last five games, the average margin of defeat has been five. It could have been worse on this occasion as the visitors led 24-9 with 25 minutes remaining and the home side only grabbed a lifeline on a Matt Healy intercept before Jason Harris Wright was driven over.
The key points are as follows, this was a weakened Scarlets outfit missing ten front liners, the visitors suffered three sin binnings in the contest, a cumulative 25 or so minutes playing with 14 men and the home side missed a couple of vital kicks including a relatively straight forward conversion from Dan Parks.
If this was any other workplace, the boss would be prescribing a holiday, followed by a detailed work evaluation from which a new set of goals would be agreed upon. Rip it up and start again might be the point. Pat Lam talked of evaluations among other things in the post game huddle. His interviews often require multiple listens just to get through the layers of what he is saying.
For example he had a line on Sunday, that seemed fairly nonchalant but actually highlighted a key problem, “Some of our players are new to this level, some are coming through and others have been there and done it.” he said when discussing the key errors and mistakes.
Lam hit upon an important point. Take a look at the occupiers of key positions in the Connacht team on Sunday, Sean Henry (25) at hooker never started a RaboDirect Pro12 before this season, having made ten replacement appearances for Munster in three years. Eoghan Masterson (20) at number eight made his debut on Saturday, a hugely talented but on occasion naive Jake Heenan (20) is in his first season as a professional.
In the backline Kieran Marmion (21) at scrum half is in just his second season, out half Craig Ronaldson (23) is in his first season as a professional, Darragh Leader (19) was starting just his second game at this level on the wing and moved to the pivotal position of full back late on in the contest.
Six players in key positions who need time and guidance. Some of them may not ultimately make the cut but their success or failure hinges on the experienced heads around them delivering. Nathan White, Michael Swift, Craig Clarke, Gavin Duffy and second half replacement Dan Parks were the men tasked with that responsibility on Saturday and collectively they failed to deliver on their role.
Only Craig Clarke and Parks deserve singling out though, as not only did they not give their sides even one momentum changing moment in the contest, they went further than the other three in providing some key momentum stopping moments.
Clarke was promoted to captain here, he led the Chiefs to the Super 14 silverware so he knows what he is at, and he has been a key reason why Connacht’s lineout has been so good this season. It made sense, he plays for 80 minutes every week and having your captain in your forwards is always the prefered option.
He didn’t have a great game however, he shunned the responsibility of ball carrying a little too often, using Jake Heenan and Ronan Loughney who were always willing. Then, at a key point five minutes into the second half, he gained possession on half way in a narrow channel and instead of using his big frame to drive forward in the tackle he went for a grubber kick. Inexplicably wasting possession.
The ball found its way to touch, the Scarlets took a quick lineout and set in motion the series of plays that led to Kirby Myhill’s try and turned the tide. A second try from Gareth Davies followed minutes later. It was a simple cameo. Dan Parks had his momentum stopping moments too after he replaced Ronaldson who had picked up a knock. He missed a key conversion on Harris Wright’s try that would have narrowed the gap to one.
Parks botched a promising overlap on half way with an erratic pass and left the crowd gasping when he went for a crossfield kick with time elapsed on the clock. He got away with that one but it was hardly the time to be risking everything on his inconsistent boot.
How Lam deals with the failings of his senior men - the guys that have “been there and done it” as he puts it - is hard to know. Has Parks a case for a place in the match day 23 at this stage? Is Clarke going to take the bull by the horns and lead from the front, if this captain’s armband is to be permanent? Are the other experienced players willing to take ownership of the problems?
At this very moment, Connacht are a mess. The league position is below par, below any standards that they could have set at the start of the season. Such form won’t sustain the interest levels among the public and the narrow defeats will start getting bigger as heads drop and confidence dissipates. There are plenty of potential leaders in the camp, one or two of them need to step up and help their young teammates.
Connacht: G Duffy, D Leader, E Griffin, D McSharry, M Healy, C Ronaldson, K Marmion B Wilkinson, S Henry, N White, M Swift, C Clarke, A Muldowney, J Heenan, E Masterson.
Replacements: R Loughney for Wilkinson (33 mins), J Harris-Wright for Henry and R Ah You for White (54 mins), D Parks for Ronaldson (57 mins), M Kearney for Swift and G Naoupu for Masterson (60 mins), F Carr for Duffy (64), F Murphy for Marmion (77).
Scarlets: G Owen, F Climo, G Maule, A Warren, N Reynolds, A Thomas, G Davies, P John, K Myhill, J Adriaanse, J Ball, G Earle, A Shingler, J Turnbull, S Timani.
Replacements: A Davies for G Davies (70 mins), J Snyman for Earle (71), D Thomas for Timani (76 mins), S Hopkins for John and K Phillips for Male (79 mins)
Referee: Matteo Liperini
Rob Murphy covers Connacht rugby for the Connacht Tribune and Sentinel, Galway Bay FM and is the creator of KnockON.ie.