When Connacht proudly unveiled their spanking new Clan Stand at the Dexcom Stadium on a memorable night in January the 34-23 loss to Leinster left them 14th in the URC and appeared to have extinguished their top eight hopes. Now, as Stuart Lancaster admits, with one round remaining, it would be a desperate pity if they missed out.
That loss in January was their seventh defeat in nine matches, but Saturday night’s thunderous 26-7 win over Munster was their seventh win in their last eight and brought them to within a point of the playoffs.
Connacht, ninth on 49 points, have a very tricky tie next Friday away to Edinburgh, while at the same time Ulster (eighth on 50) and Cardiff (seventh on 50) host leaders Glasgow and second-placed Stormers respectively.
[ Bonus-point win over Munster keeps Connacht in top-eight huntOpens in new window ]
“It would be [a shame], that’s an understatement,” said Lancaster after Connacht’s second bonus-point win ever over Munster, and only eclipsed by the 35-14 victory en route to the 2015-16 Pro12 title. “But we know we’ve got to earn the right. It’s such a tough league.”
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He added: “You can’t underestimate the opening of the stand as well. For the lads over the last year and even halfway through the season, playing in front of that stand being empty and now it’s full, it makes such a difference.”
Roared on by the vast majority of the 12,481 capacity attendance on a gorgeous night in Galway, Connacht were full value for their five-point haul, and while targeting another bonus-point win in Edinburgh is “a dangerous game if you go down that route”, their attacking intent under Lancaster is now ingrained.
“We’ll have to rip in, for sure, to win. You are not going to go up there to defend. A bit like this one. You can’t get to games like this in the latter stages of the season and hope to win. You’ve got to go and attack it and I thought that’s what we did really well in the first half. Edinburgh will pose threats, but we just need to build on the confidence we have now.”
In what has come down to a four-way tussle for the final three places, Munster sit sixth on 51 points. They have the advantage of hosting the Lions at Thomond Park next Saturday in the weekend’s last game, by which stage they could either have secured a top-eight spot or require a win to earn a place in the playoffs and next season’s Champions Cup.
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“It was in our own hands again tonight, but we weren’t good enough to get it done,” lamented head coach Clayton McMillan, who acknowledged, “we got beaten by the better team tonight”. He is hopeful Jack Crowley will return, but ruled out Tadhg Beirne.
“I just had a quick squiz at the points table. I think everyone from one to nine has still got a chance, and you wanted a few other results to go your way to create a little bit of breathing space, but everyone’s got a huge amount to play for.
“I don’t think there’s anyone that will be sitting on their heels, whether it’s trying to get a home quarter-final. Obviously, that’s out of our hands now. We’re just focused purely on trying to get there.”
