Below-par Connacht scalped by the Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs 33

Connacht 13

There’s solace to be found in the fact that Saturday’s below-par display by Connacht in Exeter was a rare lapse in this campaign, but for the first time this season, damage limitation became part of the equation as Connacht were forced to take positives from the fact that they halted the Chiefs just as they were about to really cut loose.

At the superbly well-equipped and atmospheric Sandy Park on the edge of the Devon town, a much changed Connacht line-up struggled to find a cohesive game plan, conceded five tries in 50 minutes and found themselves taking solace at mere act of keeping their try line intact for the final half hour.

This was the kind of comprehensive bulldozing defeat that only the English Premiership sides can deliver. If you let them get their tails up they’ll power through every gap, pounce on every mistake and exude an air of invincibility in every try. It wasn’t awe inspiring fast-paced rugby, but it was ruthlessly efficient all the same.

Whether or not the Chiefs look as superior in Galway in the return leg next January is an entirely different proposition but the five point haul from this contest might render that game academic as far as qualification from this group is concerned, unless Connacht can record home and away wins against Bayonne in December.

The Chiefs have emerged as a Premiership force just four short years after their promotion. Four wins from six to start this campaign underlines as much. They were at full strength here but didn’t have to hit any heights in the performance. Three first-half tries, including one with the last play of the half, had Exeter 19-6 ahead at half time and looking certain of a full five point return.

The first 40 minutes were as error-strewn and lax as anything Connacht have produced this season. Faced with a blitz defence of ferocious intensity, the visitors looked rattled and fragile on almost every play. Their much-changed line-up exulted clear signs of a team that was out of tune and unable to find an effective tempo.

As Pat Lam and assistant coach Dan McFarland sat down to pick the team with the rest of their management team last week, they had a serious dilemma. The six day turnaround before the crucial Pro 12 away clash at the league leading Ospreys was always going to take precedence.

The list of rested front liners included captain John Muldoon and scrum-half Kieran Marmion, both vital assets during the season to date. Quinn Roux was also kept at home with Michael Swift drafted in for the destructive second row role; while Jack Carty was on the bench, paving the way for an entirely different half-back partnership of Ian Porter and Craig Ronaldson.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.