Epic Connacht season shows no signs of coming to an end

Inside Track with John McIntyre

WE never thought we’d be taken here by Connacht. Four points clear at the top of the PRO12 table with only four games remaining; on target for a home semi-final in the competition; qualification for next season’s European Cup already assured; and still in contention for glory in the Challenge Cup.

No wonder Connacht are the talk of the nation’s rugby fraternity, while their growing local popularity continues to cross the sporting divide. Pat Lam’s squad have broken so much new ground this season that they are drawn favourable comparisons with Leicester City’s fairytale pursuit of the Premiership title cross-channel.

Like the Foxes, Connacht startling progress over the past few months has been as unexpected as it has been heart-warming. They have never finished higher than seventh in the league before, but since last September Ireland’s Cinderella province has been nearly sweeping all before them. Only five defeats – and a couple of them desperately unlucky – in 18 PRO12 matches so far represent a staggering level of consistency for the former minnows from the West of Ireland.

The latest examination of Connacht’s growing status came at a packed Sportsground last Saturday. Second in the table Leinster were rolling into town and the College Road venue was heaving with expectancy. Seven thousand, three hundred was the official attendance and if the famous old ground could have stretched its capacity, more would have come such is the team’s drawing power at present.

The match itself didn’t let the occasion down. It may have been the polar opposite of a thrill-a-minute try feast, but this low scoring, attritional and physically bruising encounter still had the crowd on tenterhooks right to its pulsating climax. Connacht were fighting a desperate rearguard action at the finish, but John Muldoon and his team-mates heroically refused to surrender in clinging on for a magnificent 7-6 victory.

The Connacht supporters went ballistic at the final whistle in scenes of jubilation reminiscent of Munster’s famous triumph over the All Blacks at Thomond Park in 1979. The sheer delight of the players themselves also underlined the scale of the achievement. Leinster knew what they were facing and though the Kearney brothers and Johnny Sexton were not involved, all there other heavy hitters were. By the finish, internationals Jack McGrath, Mike Ross, Sean Cronin, Devin Toner, James Heaslip and Eoin Reddan had been all summoned from the bench, but still the hosts refused to wilt.

Connacht scrum half Kieran Marmion got the game’s critical score in the 14th minute when he pounced on a  precise chip ahead from winger Niyi Adeolokun in beating his Leinster counterpart Luke McGrath to the touchdown. With AJ MacGinty adding the extras, they led by 7-nil at the break but it hardly seemed a sufficient cushion with the wind to face to the resumption. Leinster tried everything to pull the game out of the fire but were restricted to just two penalties from Ian Madigan as Connacht defended with admirable discipline.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.