A frustrated Friend loses his cool after Connacht shocker

Connacht 20

Glasgow Warriors 42

John Fallon at the Sportsground

CONNACHT coach Andy Friend has warned that they face a record hammering in Belfast this Friday night if they play like they did against Glasgow Warriors at the Sportsground on Saturday when he felt it was the poorest display they have produced on his watch.

It was also a costly defeat in terms of their hopes of making the knockout stages of the United Rugby Championship and qualifying for the Champions Cup next season.

Connacht are currently hanging on to the final URC knockout place in eighth, but seven of the teams below them have two games in hand, while if the league finished at this point Friend’s team would not be in the Champions Cup next season as at least one from each Shield must qualify and all four South African teams are currently below them.

Connacht have nine games remaining in the league but six of them are away from home, starting with Ulster this weekend and Scarlets next week, with a couple of games in South Africa to come later, so opportunities to pick points are not great and that makes last weekend’s dismal performance and result difficult to take.

“In my three and a half years here I don’t think I have seen us play so poor,” admitted Friend. “Just very disappointing with what we delivered. A rocket was delivered at half-time and we sparked for seven or eight minutes and we get to evens and then we folded again. Not a good day. If we play like that against Ulster they will put 70 on us.”

Glasgow led 17-10 at the end of a good opening half where both sides had periods of dominance but Connacht’s lineout woes proved costly as they coughed up four of their own throws. Glasgow targeted that area from the outset throughout Richie Gray and Kiran McDonald and it paid a high dividend.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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