Sports
Connacht on guard for backlash from Zebre after Italians weekend annihilation
Pat Lam didn’t even bother to re-watch a recording of Wasps near-fatal stinging of Zebre last weekend.
The Connacht head coach saw the game live on television, but he knew from the demoralised body language of the Zebre players that they had given up long before the final whistle.
The Italians conceded 12 tries in an embarrassing 82-12 loss to the English outfit, which was a Champions Cup record.
There was nothing to be gained by Lam parsing through video analysis. It was completely disregarded.
The New Zealand born Samoan knows full well that Connacht will face a very different animal – a dangerously wounded animal – when they take on Zebre in Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi this Sunday (4.15pm local time, 3.15pm Irish time).
Lam is also aware that Zebre, ever since the pool draw was made last Summer, has targeted this fixture as one they can spring a surprise in.
“I was at the launch of the Champions Cup and all the teams were asked, ‘what’s your goal?’ Ourselves and others said, ‘we want to get into the knock-out stages. Zebre made it very clear that their big goal is to win one game in the Champions Cup.
“Now, when you consider that their best chance is at home. And you’ve got Toulouse, Wasps and Connacht, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out which game they’re targeting. We are under no illusions that of all the visits we have made to Parma, this will be the biggest challenge that we have faced,” he said.
Lam recalled Connacht’s own experience of getting a roasting at the hands of Edinburgh in November 2013.
They lost 43-10 in the league but bounced back the following week and stunned Toulouse by recording a two-points win over the French giants at Stade Ernest Wallon. He’s certainly familiar with the ‘backlash’ psychology; and expects Zebre to throw everything at Connacht to rescue their reputations.
“We know they are taking a hammering this week from people outside saying ‘are they worthy to be in the Champions Cup?’ And they’ve been taking a hammering from their own supporters. As a rugby player, we’ve all been there, and yet there is only one way to respond, so we have no doubt they are going to come out firing.”
It is a banana-skin fixture. Connacht has improved markedly since thunder and lightning forced the abandonment of the league game against them in Italy earlier in the season. But Zebre ran in three tries against them, and were leading by 22-10 when the weather Gods intervened in mid-September.
The home team will take enormous confidence from that; and from their home displays against Glasgow and Cardiff, which they were unlucky not to win.
Lam acknowledged that Connacht will have to improve in defence, compared with their last two visits to Parma, if they are to avoid slipping up against the competition’s minnows.
The westerners are high on confidence having recorded a sweet victory over Toulouse at a rocking Sportsground on Saturday evening in what was another momentous night for the province in Europe.
John Muldoon and Co recovered from conceding nine early points, and they fought back from being 10 points down in the second half, to record a memorable 23-21 triumph.
That some supporters leaving College Road were bemoaning that the home team had scored one less try than the four needed for a bonus point against the four-times European Cup winners, just goes to show how far Lam has developed this squad.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GALWAY United need to guard against any kind of complacency when they make the short hop down the M18 this Friday to take on Treaty United at the Markets Field (7.45pm).
The game is a meeting of the two form teams in the division, and as in previous meetings between the sides, will have an additional edge given the number of former United players in the home side’s ranks, and the pair of Limerick lads playing for United.
There might have been just the eight meetings between the sides since Treaty became the latest iteration to represent Limerick in the League of Ireland in 2021, and while United have yet to lose to the men in the candy-cane strips, there has never been more than a goal in four of their eight wins.
The most recent of those was back in February, when Rob Slevin scored the only goal of the game in Eamonn Deacy Park after a tough battle against a side who made a slow start to the season, before finally finding their groove in the past month.
Having taken just three points from their first six games before finally getting a win against Longford Town, they reverted to type with just one point from their next three games, but are now on a run of four wins on the spin, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
Their most recent win was a 3-0 victory away to Longford Town last Saturday, and they could have won by double that against the only side to have beaten United this season. That in itself is a warning.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty
While the Salthill Devon men’s team might have lost their grip on the Connacht Junior Cup that they held for two seasons, the club’s women’s side have picked up the mantle and on Sunday last in Headford were crowned provincial champions with a 4-3 win over Manulla.
Following midweek wins for Maree/Oranmore and Knocknacarra, the stage is now almost set for the semi-finals of the Michael Byrne Cup with Salthill Devon meeting St Bernard’s on Sunday in an outstanding quarter-final, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against Maree/Oranmore, while Colga will face Knocknacarra in the other last four contest.
Just one league issue remains to be decided, with the Championship runners-up position up for grabs, as Dynamo Blues have to win their two remaining games in order to overtake Colemanstown United who have finished their programme.
WOMEN’S CONNACHT CUP FINAL
Salthill Devon 4
Manulla 3
Ellerose O’Flaherty scored twice as Salthill Devon were crowned provincial champions with a win over a Mayo side who were losing in the final for the second year in succession.
Backboned by a number of players who previously had League of Ireland experience with Galway WFC, Devon suffered an early set back when Jess Nolan put Manulla ahead, before O’Flaherty levelled matters with a cracking finish on 20 minutes, which was quickly followed by a long-range free-kick from Aoife Walsh.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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