In-form Connacht make light of absent regulars in France

Perpignan 21

Connacht 36

IT can be a little jarring when a new voice comes into an organisation and dismisses local conventional wisdom. Andy Friend doesn’t know a whole pile about Connacht’s history in the Challenge Cup. It’s not that he is not that interested, it’s just that he has decided that what has gone before has no relevance on what he can do in his role as a head coach.

Take Friday’s game in the town of Perpignan which sits just a handful of miles north of the French and Spanish border in the Catalan region. Connacht arrived still in contention for a quarter final place but needing three wins in as many games and a much improved performance against a highly motivated home team to stay on track.

That they delivered a resounding bonus point victory to move back within striking distance of a place in the quarter finals is in one sense hardly noteworthy. All that happened here was a play-off contender from the PRO14 beat the bottom side in the Top 14, but the real story here is very much centred on the novel approach to managing resources. Connacht are in the midst of a five game winning streak which has coincided with a much needed squad reshuffle to help conserve the effort of key players. That is what is noteworthy.

The conventional wisdom that Friend’s approach bucked on Friday, ordained that Connacht needed to be at full strength for a fixture like this, in a hostile atmosphere. Sure, Perpignan are a poor side but their positive efforts in Galway went against that assertion and as they had taken the unusual step for a French side to pick their absolute strongest 15 for this clash, beating them in this scenario was not likely to be easy. Friend was having none of it as for the fourth time in as many games in this competition, he rested some of his regular starters.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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