Again a tale of two halves as Connacht leave it too late

Connacht coach Pat Lam will need to address the dichotomy of his team’s performance as they head to Gloucester on Sunday for another opportunity to play Champions Cup rugby next season.

Once again Connacht’s penchant for staging a second-half revival after a poor first-half proved costly. In Saturday’s final fixture against Ospreys, the concession of 24 first-half points, even given the strong wind, ensured only one outcome.

Bonus point

Yet in keeping the classy Welsh outfit scoreless in the second half, and achieving a bonus point, Connacht’s fighting spirit kept their hopes alive.

“We kept it calm at half time. Normally I would show video clips, but I didn’t bother because we just knew we had to get back into our game,” said Lam. “Even our attack wasn’t right, we were just doing one-off runners which against a team like that is no threat. We just had to get back into our shape and we came back to run them close. We showed exactly what we are about in the second half. We ran out of time, but I’m really really proud of the effort.”

That prevalence for first-half failings will be even more relevant as they head to south west England where at Easter Gloucester scraped through the Challenge Cup fixture by virtue of Connacht’s opening-half jitters. However time is running out for Connacht to produce an 80-minute effort which will be demanded next Sunday.

“They had two opportunities [at Easter] and they took them. It was tricky conditions over there. They had us, and then we came back with a strong second half. But we will have to start better, and we have to prepare well.

"The boys won't fear it, but we understand the quality of their side, and this is it for them as well. It's a great challenge. When you look at the big scheme, one of the things Michael Swift [retiring] and [Glasgow-bound] Dan McFarland talked about was they have loved their whole time here and they are excited about what is coming."

That a victory over Ospreys would have made no difference to the eventual league standings ensures it is easier for Connacht to celebrate their seventh place than remonstrate for their loss.

Awards event

Saturday’s two second-half try scorers

Denis Buckley

(Forward of the Year) and

Eoghan Masterson

(Young Player of the Year) along with

Robbie Henshaw

(Players’ Player of the Year),

Aly Muldowney

(Team Man of the Year) and

Matt Healy

(Back of the Year) were all recipients at Connacht’s awards event following Saturday’s match.