By Rob Murphy at the SportsgroundConnacht 12 - Glasgow 19
Say hello to the worst rugby team in the RaboDirect Pro12 at the moment. This was always going to be the defining game in the opening quarter of the season and Connacht enter the break with things looking bleak.
The westerners are bottom of the table with just one win and two bonus points from seven games. Two adrift of Zebre, five points back on Treviso. The league’s worst ranked offence, the league’s fourth worst defence, the league’s worst home record.
Glasgow came, saw and conquered. The side coached by European rugby’s rising star Gregor Townsend, have conceded just three tries in seven games now. They changed eight players from the team that lost with Munster, played a brilliantly controlled, ball-retaining game and squeezed the life out of Connacht. Ruthlessly punishing every home mistake.
And yet. Had Mata Fafita not lost his mind in the 76th minute with a late and high tackle on Nikola Matawalu, Connacht could have won this game. Had they done so, we would have been looking at a different picture.
Connacht wouldn’t have been in last place, we would have been reviewing a win against a top side where the westerners had played well below their best still won and we would have combined that story with the good displays in Europe and Dublin and deduced that corners were being turned and that the ‘Pat Lam way’ was taking shape.
It is not all Pat Lam’s fault, not at all. The team have no defence coach, they have been without a CEO for two months now, there is a €400k debt that makes the prospects of a replacement being found for the departed James So’oialo seem grim and the injuries in the back row have been worryingly widespread.
Lam will never have less pressure in a professional rugby job. His employers haven’t given us any signs that pressure comes with this job in the past and that probably won’t change. Plus, Connacht supporters understand their lot, they don’t expect or demand much beyond a high level of effort each week and some signs that the team is learning from mistakes.
The team fell short of those requirements here but what more can supporters do beyond greeting the final whistle with a deafening silence. It was eerie in fact, you could hear the water hitting rocks on Lough Atalia when Neil Paterson brought it all to an end after yet another turnover.
But in truth it seems that all Connacht have to do is live up to that marketing slogan of ‘front up and rise up’ on more occasions than they don’t and the owners of the team will just say, “grand”, “job done”. The owners of the team don’t seem to see it as much of an issue that there is no permanent CEO in place, the owners of this team are the IRFU and their concerns are elsewhere.
Connacht have a long list of injuries and considering the fact that no one in the starting line up reached their best form, with the possible exceptions of Darragh Leader, Matt Healy and Jake Heenan. We can’t say anything other than any of the absentees could have made something of a difference.
With such a list out, especially in the back row department, one wonders if an independent review of strength and conditioning, rehab and recovery times is needed just to be sure that they aren’t merely the unluckiest team in the league when it comes to injuries year after year. Maybe a few tweaks to the systems are needed.
All that is for another time, Connacht lost by seven. DTH Van Der Merwe’s grafted try off the side of a ruck in the opening minutes was the difference with Duncan Weir’s brilliant conversion helping. It set them on their way with a huge wind at their backs in the first half.
That score came on seven minutes. Connacht had touched the ball twice, once on a botched kick off with Michael Swift coughing up possession, and once at the base of their own creaking scrum, where George Naoupu had the ball ripped out of his hands after he had picked it up and tried to drive forward. Two bad, bad moments that set a tone.
Connacht were 13-3 behind heading towards half time but finished the half camped on the visitors line. Phase upon phase was repelled and the Connacht forward tired. Too many committed to rucks, not enough were back on their feet in time and they lacked the patience to keep it simple, instead going to the backline where possession was coughed up.
Parks added a second penalty just after halftime but Glasgow responded soon after when a restart was turned over. They were a problem throughout and while the impressive Craig Ronaldson came on to score two penalties, his second on 71 minutes was followed up immediately by a bad spill from Naoupu. Fully 20 phases later, the Warriors had their penalty.
Late on, Connacht had one final chance with a brilliant blindside break from their own scrum inside their 22. Paul O’Donoghue kicked ahead, Fionn Carr chased. Matawalu dithered and launched and ill-advised chip kick that would have been lapped up by the chasing Connacht players, setting up a golden try scoring opportunity, however, this was were Fifita tackled late for his yellow card.
Game over. Just to be sure though, Weir added one more penalty. So many issues, so many candidates for dropping. Calm heads will make that decision after a badly needed two week break.
One man who won’t be dropped is Jake Heenan but he picked up a knock in the final quarter having to toil on to the end regardless. If he isn’t back for Scarlets game, Connacht will be in trouble.
Just a thought but had the New Zealand under 20 captain been born in Connacht and captained the Irish under 20s, one wonders if his size and shape would have be more of an issue and if the old adage ‘needing another year’ would come into play.
All of that points to a bigger issue. If Connacht are going to be the worst team in the league, they might as well learn something in the process.
Connacht: G Duffy; F Carr, D Leader, D McSharry, M Healy; D Parks, K Marmion; B Wilkinson, J Harris-Wright, R Ah You; M Swift (cpt), C Clarke; M Fafita, J Heenan, G Naoupu. Replacements: P O’Donohoe for Marmion (27 mins), D Heffernan for Harris-Wright (54 mins), N White for Ah You (55 mins), M Kearney for Swift, C Ronaldson for Parks (both 57mins), A Muldowney for Naoupu (74 mins), JP Cooney for Wilkinson (77 mins).
Glasgow: N Matawalu; B McGuigan, M Bennett, G Ascarate, DTH van der Merwe; D Weir, C Cusiter (cpt); G Reid, D Hall, J Welsh; T Ryder, J Gray; R Harley, C Fusaro, J Strauss. Replacements: E Kalman for Welsh (47 mins), M Low for Reid (55 mins), F Brown for Hall (61 mins), T Holmes for Fusaro (63 mins). L Nakarawa for Gray (67 mins), R Vernon for Strauss (74 mins).
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland).
Rob Murphy covers Connacht rugby for the Connacht Tribune and Sentinel, Galway Bay FM and is the creator of KnockON.ie.
