URC: Connacht 23 Leinster 34
After the din had finally died down and the capacity 12,481 headed into the Galway rain, Connacht could reflect with pride on a truly momentous night. The atmosphere generated by a passionate home crowd in their shiny new stand and those around the ground, including a sizeable smattering of blue, contributed to a memorable occasion and game. Yet that only heightened Connacht’s bitter disappointment.
Seeking to end a run of 12 defeats against Leinster and register a first interpro win in two seasons, Connacht gave as good as they got in a nip-and-tuck first half.
After trading tries off early power plays, Sam Gilbert’s second penalty drew the sides level for the third time, and the westerners were roared though the Clan Stand for the break after three big defensive sets kept Leinster at bay.
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Never has there been a bigger crowd at a rugby game in Galway and never has there been a more desperate desire for a win to decorate the occasion. When big carries by Cathal Forde and Sean Jansen maintained the momentum at the start of the second half before a sumptuously worked try by Harry West, it seemed as if the victory they craved was in the making.
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But the visitors treated the occasion and their opponents with the respect they deserved, exemplified by the 22 tackles made by Mayo-born Caelan Doris on his unstinting 100th appearance for Leinster. Two tries in four minutes approaching the hour mark, the first by RG Snyman and the second a fine solo (albeit softly conceded) effort by Charlie Tector, turned the game around before the Connacht-bound Ciarán Frawley sealed the bonus point to twist the knife.
Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster could not conceal his disappointment at coming away with nothing from such a huge effort in showcasing the €50 million refurbishment of the Dexcom Stadium.
“The energy was huge and you can’t thank [the supporters] enough for turning out that way. That’s why it feels so gut-wrenching not to have actually delivered for the supporters, because we know how much it means to them,” said Lancaster.
“But they’ll stay behind us because they can see there’s a team growing and they know that we have a period of transition taking place. We’ve got some great Connacht stalwarts who are coming to the end of their careers and we’ve got some great young lads coming through.
“So when you build a stadium, you’ve got to start at the bottom and build some strong foundations and I feel we’re building those, but it doesn’t lessen the pain of defeat because you want to win in the here and now and build for the future at the same time. I’m not interested in just building for the future.”
A seventh defeat in nine matches leaves Connacht 14th in the URC table, five points outside the playoff spots, ahead of what now looks like a must-win game away to Zebre next Saturday.
In spite of the result, Lancaster said there are “huge positives” to take from the defeat.
“I thought our ball carrying, our contact work, our defence was very good, obviously bar the lapses. I thought in the set-piece, we didn’t nail one or two lineouts. I thought the scrum was good bar one or two in the second half, but overall the shape and framework of what we were trying to do was strong throughout the game,” he surmised.
“I thought the emotional energy that the players brought was good, and lots of good individual performances within that. We have got good players to come back in the second half of the season as well, which makes a big difference.
“So, there’s lots of positives you can take, but ultimately, we still lost and that’s the thing that probably is the overriding emotion at the moment.”
No Connacht player deserved a win more than Jansen, their leading ball carrier (15 for 45 metres) and tackler (20) who also made two turnovers in his tour de force.
“I’m very proud to be representing my (Irish) grandparents and come over here,” said the Kiwi-born 26-year-old, who is likely to feature for the Ireland XV against England ‘A’ at Thomond Park on February 6th.
Echoing Lancaster, Jansen said there were positives to take from how they stood up to Leinster. “When we’re good we’re really good. You can see when we are on top, we’re carrying, we’re getting fast balls around the corner, our defence is amazing.
“Then it’s just stupid lapses where we give a penalty away or the nine scoops and we’re running back 80 metres,” he said in reference to Fintan Gunne’s early try.
“We just need to get better at those big moments. There are loads of positives but we are coming in every week with positives but we need to put a performance on because Stu has given us all the tools.”
The grand sense of occasion wasn’t lost on Leinster head coach Leo Cullen, who hailed the Dexcom Stadium redevelopment as a huge benefit for Irish and Connacht rugby.
“I’ve been here and lost. I was talking to Caelan about his debut here, John Muldoon kicking a conversion at the end of the game,” said Cullen, reflecting on Connacht’s record win over Leinster at the Sportsground eight seasons ago.
“I’d lost here with Leinster before, so I have a huge amount of respect for Connacht and the Dexcom now, and then the occasion of the new stand.
“We worked hard out there, found a way to win,” Cullen added, commending his side on a 10th successive win after “taking some flak” earlier in the season.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 8 mins: Gunne try, Byrne con 0-7; 12: Tierney-Martin try, Gilbert con 7-7; 23: Gilbert pen 10-7; 27: Byrne pen 10-10; 31: Byrne pen 10-13; 33: Gilbert pen 13-13; Half-time 13-13; 48: West try, Gilbert con 20-13; 57: Snyman try, Byrne con 20-20; 60: Tector try, Byrne con 20-27; 67: Gilbert pen 23-27; 71: Frawley try, Byrne con 23-34
CONNACHT: Sam Gilbert; Shane Jennings, Harry West, Cathal Forde, Finn Treacy; Josh Ioane, Caolin Blade; Billy Bohan, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Sam Illo; Josh Murphy, Darragh Murray; Cian Prendergast (capt), Paul Boyle, Sean Jansen.
Replacements: Jack Aungier for Illo, Bundee Aki for Ford (both 9-20 mins); Denis Buckley for Bohan, Jack Aungier for Illo, Aki for West (all 49); Joe Joyce for Murray, Sean O’Brien for Boyle (61); Jack Carty for Ioane (63); Eoin de Buitlear for Tierney-Martin, Ben Murphy for Blade (both 73).
LEINSTER: Ciarán Frawley; Joshua Kenny, Garry Ringrose, Charlie Tector, James Lowe; Harry Byrne, Fintan Gunne; Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Niall Smyth; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Alex Soroka, Will Connors, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Jerry Cahir for Boyle (20 mins); Diarmuid Mangan for Soroka (45-55, 62); Rónan Kelleher for McCarthy, Andrew Sparrow for Smyth, Scott Penny for Connors (all 49); Luke McGrath for Gunne (56); Brian Deeny for Snyman (73); Ruben Moloney for Kenny (78).
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU).
