Connacht roll up sleeves in shading derby inter-pro

Connacht 10

Munster 8

By JOHN FALLON

ANDY Friend’s primary desire is for his men to throw the ball around and move at pace, but the Australian knows that success in these parts is also down to an ability to grind out results in tough and drab affairs.

And Connacht showed that they have the ability to roll up their sleeves and dig in for a dogfight when they ousted Munster in a fiery contest at the Sportsground on Saturday when both sides had two men binned and Irish centre Chris Farrell was fortunate to escape with a yellow card.

Friend has spent three and a half seasons at the Sportsground developing his team to play expansive and exciting rugby, but he’s chuffed that they now know how to win ugly after grinding out this win on New Year’s Day in front of a crowd which was limited to just over 3,000.

It was a feisty but drab affair, however Friend believes this sort of win could be the making of their season as they got 2022 off to a great start.

“Some of the defence, heart and energy that they showed, is probably the best I’ve seen. Just tough footie. For me that could be season-defining for us.

“I didn’t think we played our best footie, I thought we left chances out there. We’ve proved to ourselves that we can win in a couple of ways.

“We had to roll our sleeves up and we didn’t have the expansive game we are used to playing, so to be able to win in another manner and to win ugly is a great sign.”

And while Friend and Connacht were aggrieved with some decisions when these sides met in Thomond Park in October, this time they secured the win and gained revenge for that 20-18 loss against a Munster side who again failed to spark.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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