Connacht brought back to earth with a bang

Connacht 9

Toulouse 37

The simple synopsis is clear, Toulouse took their eye off the ball last week and learned a valuable lesson. They came to Galway on a mission of redemption, packed the artillery in the suitcases and left nothing to chance. Job done, move on.

Off they go, back to the top 14, to the 20 thousand home supporters each week and onwards to a home tie with Saracens (who they share 1st place in the pool with on 15 points) in round 4 that will decide this pool.

They’ll talk of Connacht many times between now and the end of the season, if things go well in the interim. They’ll label last week as the wake up call, the shot in the arm, the low point. Their own French idioms might even lend more substance to the point.

Connacht are left behind. They had their night on the main stage last week. They demonstrated potential and gave the European rugby a glimpse of what might be. Everyone got a little caught up in it all, and rightly so. The virus in the camp disrupted all the optimism and by kick off on Saturday a sense of reality had descended.

When a team like Toulouse prepare meticulously for a game, call up all their big guns, tune into an inferior opposition and analyse points of weakness in detail, the game of rugby offers no outlet for the opponents in question.

The only way to beat a side of that stature on those terms is to better them in terms of experience and skill, pound for pound. Home advantage, confidence garnered from the previous week, unpredictable plays, technically superb set pieces are all well and good but there is an irresistible force up against an object that isn’t fully wedged in yet.

Toulouse picked out a few key areas in this game and made it count. They had less possession than they had last week, but kicked a lot more regardless. Exposing the quick line speed defence from Connacht and catching the back three off guard was there ploy, and it worked.

They hit three first half tries but they didn’t exactly set the world alight in doing that. The first multiple phase attack in the Connacht 22 didn’t come until the 37th minute when Christian Tolofua barged over after a sustained spell of pressure for the third try that all but sealed the win before the break. Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune