Late Griffin try seals the deal in battling win over Trevisio

Treviso 19

Connacht 22

INEVITABLY, Connacht responded on Saturday afternoon with a result that prevented a crisis, steadied the ship and got them back on their feet in the PRO14 standings.

It no doubt didn’t go as far as to undo the frustration at the shock result a week earlier against Zebre, but winning away in this competition is tough and doing so against an in-form Treviso in eastern Italy is a feather in the cap in any campaign.

The bounce back was hardly straight forward. Treviso looked to have the winning of the game after Monty Ioane’s 59th minute try put them into a 12-5 lead and it was only here that the fear of falling into a true crisis seemed to envelope this Connacht side and spark them into action. As has often been the case in the past with this group, a shock defeat was once again followed with a much more competent and determined effort to steady the ship.

What followed was a ruthless final quarter from the visitors where their superiority shone through as they scored 17 unanswered points before the hosts rescued a losing bonus point with a third try in second half injury time. It was a second win in as many years at this venue for Connacht and a much needed first away win in eight attempts in this competition for the West of Ireland men.

The trip is part of a ten-day adventure for Kieran Keane’s men that couldn’t have come at a better time after the lowest point in the campaign just last week. As a group, they flew to South Africa for a fixture against the high flying Cheetahs fully aware that they will be rank outsiders in the heat and high altitude of Bloemfontein, but all set for six days of preparations ahead of the game.

The Zebre defeat might have had some people wondering if Connacht are now right down in the bottom four of the PRO14 in terms of quality but this result should dispel some of those fears and reaffirm the feeling that a more mid-level ranking would be more accurate. Treviso have played well of late, picking up some good results and producing some stirring performances. As a result, they were confident here and even slight favourites.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.