Connacht deflated as they let golden opportunity slip

CONNACHT’S team and crowd alike were left deflated by a feeling that they’d let slip a gilt-edged opportunity to beat an injury-ravaged Munster and move to within a point of Ulster in their private battle to automatically secure the third Heineken Cup spot. Indeed, it was the sense of opportunity knocking which perhaps brought an anxiousness to their play.

“I think there was,” admitted captain John Muldoon.

“If you see the amount of mistakes we made I think it’s pretty obvious guys were trying to pull rabbits out of hats at some stages and there were a lot of unforced errors which, typically, isn’t our game. We like to hold on and build phases, and we pride ourselves on everyone knowing what they’re doing and at times it didn’t look like that out there. We looked a bit rattled and I think between them getting amongst us and us trying to force it a little bit that definitely did disrupt us. With Ulster in the back of our minds and all that, it probably did a little.”

Muldoon admitted Connacht felt Munster players were not rolling away after the tackle. “That was a bit different from what we’ve been refereed the last few weeks but at the end of the day we’re out there and we’re old enough and wise enough to get around that and in fairness they did well there and they deserved their win.”

Coach Michael Bradley particularly bemoaned Munster’s superiority at the breakdown. “I think we started a little slower than Munster did, they got the edge in the breakdown and held it for the entire match and that was obviously critical. We weren’t able to get quick ball for the majority of the match and found it difficult to go through the phases. It was a disappointing day and that was a big factor in it.

“We just couldn’t go through the phases, and when we did go into contact, we had to commit more numbers to the breakdown and then we just ran out of players. They just dominated us there today and we struggled to put through three or four phases of meaningless possession in the match.

“If you don’t go forward or dominate the breakdown you’re going to struggle to win a match. We’ll readjust for Leinster. It’s a fact of life we have to play in three days’ time. We always look forward to Munster and Leinster coming but not in such quick succession.”

Munster, meanwhile, could probably put out 15 tailor’s dummies in red jerseys and still produce a performance which maintains their pride in the jersey. Yesterday’s mixture of wily old heads and young likely lads were far from dummies, and to come to an expectant Galway and beat a buoyant Connacht with what amounted to a scratch side, featuring only three of the starting line-up that beat Northampton a week before and three under-21 debutants in their backline, will be a huge fillip to everyone in their ranks, including their wounded absentees.

One of the three survivors, James Coughlan, has clearly taken his game to a new level with the self-belief that comes from being trusted in the rarified surrounds of a Heineken Cup quarter-final.

He rose to the challenge as if a veteran and afterwards revealed that: “Denis Hurley sent me a text there and it just summed it up. He just said ‘that’s what playing for Munster is about’. It doesn’t matter what the 15 are there, but once you’re in the jersey it’s up to you to stand up and make what you can of it.

“I think all the young lads especially showed that. It just shows what quality is there; a lot of those lads were playing with the A team all year and they’ve gone unbeaten. I thought we showed a lot of grit and determination. I think they were the main two things today.”

The win was particularly well-timed for prior to Saturday’s critical game with the high-flying Ospreys, the Munster As also face Ulster in the British Irish Cup semi-finals in a double-header at Thomond Park.

“It’s good, and it’s always important after a good result last week to follow up with good solid performance,” said Tony McGahan.