Late heartbreak for Connacht as Sexton steals win for hosts

Date Published: {J}

Leinster 17

Connacht 14

Rob Murphy

We came expecting a hammering, what we were given was a wonderfully defiant display by a Connacht side that are now clearly streets ahead of anything we have seen from the province in the last five years. Jonathan Sexton’s stunning late drop goal stole the points for Leinster but the men in green made some real noise in Dublin on Saturday.

For four games on the bounce now, Connacht have been, at the very least, within a whisker of better rewards: one loose pass away from a win at the Ospreys; a last minute miss tackle against Glasgow cost them a draw; a resounding win over the Dragons; and now this last gasp defeat to Leinster.

Those with half empty glasses will bemoan the dropped points in the last couple of months but can they really point to another time when Connacht were consistently competitive at such a high level, and all this, just when the IRFU noose is again being lowered?

The sheer defiance of it all is enough to get you off your feet and down to watch them train next week, such is the buzz. They are in the midst of a 10-week manic schedule. Leinster have used 46 players in the Magners League because they have a bottomless well of resources, Connacht have been stretched to the limit in using 30 players.

On Saturday at the RDS in front of 13,385 fans, they took on the Heineken Cup champions and were forced to do so without six front liners. Sean Cronin and Ian Keatley were held back, John Muldoon, Liam Bibo and others were injured. Sure Leinster had their absentees but the replacements for likes of Brian O’Driscol and Gordon D’Arcy would grace any Magners League starting XV.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.