Connacht Coach Lam backs team’s all-action approach to big Grenoble clash

WAS that Connacht’s best loss ever?

We asked the same question about the 10-18 defeat to Ulster a fortnight ago in the league but the province appears to have equalled if not surpassed it. And yet supporters are left feeling emptier now, in the wake of exiting the European Challenge Cup at the quarter-final stage at the hands of Grenoble, than they did after Belfast.

Both games provoked enormous pride but for different reasons.

At Ravenhill, Connacht defended stoically in the dying embers of a game they never really looked like winning. Down to 13 men, Ulster camped on the visitors’ line pushing for a try, and the Connacht lads were brave beyond belief. They threw themselves into tackles with a fearlessness and courage that bordered insanity.

When they won a late turnover, instead of finding touch, they did what head coach Pat Lam has groomed them to do: they showed adventure and ran in search of a score that could secure a losing bonus. It didn’t come. But Connacht gained new admirers.

They got deserved kudos again at the weekend in the Alps. Not for their defending – that fell short of what was required. But they won over legions of neutrals for their attacking flair and for their pluck in ‘having a go’. Connacht really were daring.

It was a joy to behold but they still lost, 32-33, agonisingly denied by a late drop-goal from out-half Jonathan Wisniews.

In truth it should never have come to that. That’s why this ‘best loss’ is also one of their worst.  Yes, Connacht set pulses racing with their high-tempo attacking mind-set that produced cracking tries.

What they also did was twice squandered leads that shouldn’t have been assailable. After a half hour of play in France, Connacht was 19-3 up, but allowed Bernard Jackman’s men back into the game. By half-time it was 19-16.

Connacht blitzed the home side again after the break, and with an hour gone, were 29-16 to the good. And still they lost.

Having a man sin-binned obviously contributed to their downfall; and they made far too mistakes that were punished by Grenoble.

This was an old-fashioned, classic cowboy gunfight shootout: Connacht lived by the sword and so shouldn’t be surprised they died by it.

Predictably there has been commentary questioning Connacht’s approach. The doubters ask, what would you prefer: boring winners or exciting losers?

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.