Connacht Rugby get the job done

Connacht Rugby overcame a shaky start against the Scarlets on Saturday to secure a 14-8 win that cements their place in the top six of the Guinness Pro12.

The win for Pat Lam’s side was their sixth in the league this season, which matches their total number of win’s from last year’s campaign, although they had to do it the hard way in the Sportsground.

The game was preceded by a minute’s silence for the late Irish rugby great, Jack Kyle, and the Connacht Rugby side looked to be still paying their respects when they found themselves 8-0 down after less than four minutes play.

Steve Shingler kicked the visitors into an early lead with a penalty, and when Jack Carty let a Garryowen bounce inside the Connacht 22, Shingler gratefully snatched possession before offloading inside for Harry Robinson to score.

Shingler hit the post with his conversion, but Connacht were reeling against a side missing seven players due to international duty. The Welsh side came into the game one place below Connacht Rugby in the table, and given their absentees, there could be no excuse for Connacht Rugby not to end a three-0year losing streak against them, so that poor start looked like being a disaster in the making.

The home side rallied, however, and Carty reduced the arrears with a penalty after Mils Muiliaina was blocked when in a footrace for a loose ball that was bouncing towards the Scarlets line.

Matt Healy got the home side back into the game with a fine individual try, chasing his own kick which seemed to defy physics by bouncing alongside – but never over – -the sideline before he scooped up possession and dived over in the corner.

Carty missed the conversion, but tagged on two more penalties for the 14-8 win, but the home side’s second-half performance deserved a bigger margin of victory. Those fans who watched the game from the Bohermore end of the ground will feel hard-done by – that was the try line the Scarlets were ‘attacking’ in the second-half, but they never came with even a sniff of the Connacht 22 as the men in green assumed total control.

The visitors did leave with a losing bonus point for staying with seven points of the victors, a reward they scarcely deserved. For Connacht Rugby, their attention now turns to the European Challenge Cup, with Bayonne the visitors to the Sportsground this Saturday at 5pm, followed by the return tie the following Saturday.

They return to Guinness Pro12 action on Friday December 19 when Connacht Rugby head to the RDS to take on a Leinster side they beat 10-9 in the Sportsground in September. The game has a 7.35pm kick-off and will be televised live by TG4.