Lionhearted Connacht come so close to making history

Inside Track with John McIntyre

IT is a measure of how far Connacht have progressed over the past 18 months, in particular, that there is genuine disappointment that the province hasn’t secured qualification for the knock-out stages of the European Champions Cup. Such a prospect would have been dismissed as fantasy-land stuff just a few seasons ago, but the Westerners are mixing it with the best right now.

Connacht’s ambitions of an historic passage to the last eight went right down to the wire in France last Sunday as they came within a drop goal or converted penalty of pulling off a staggering achievement which would have eclipsed their Guinness Pro12 triumph of last season. John Muldoon and his team-mates had a chance in the closing minutes to earn that vital bonus point only to miss out on a critical score that their stirring comeback deserved.

Trailing by 19-3 after powerful back-row Joey Tekori had crashed over for Toulouse’s third try in the 48th minute, Connacht were facing down the barrel of a heavy defeat at the Stade Ernest-Wallon. They had just about survived a daunting opening-half when they seemed continually on the backfoot, managing only 25% possession and only a fifth of the territory. Tackles were missed, balls were dropped and there were too many turners against admittedly physically intimidating opponents, but still Connacht managed to hang on.

Craig Ronaldson’s 34th minute penalty gave them a flicker a hope and a 14-3 interval deficit wasn’t insurmountable, but that third Toulouse try had all the hallmarks of being a game-breaker. It was a seminal moment. In danger of now being over-run by the dominant four-times champions, Connacht had to display remarkable resolve to initially stop the rot before setting about closing that 16-point deficit.

In similar circumstances in the past, Connacht would have crumbled altogether, but they are a different beast with a different mentality now. It wasn’t just spirit alone which dragged them back into an absorbing contest as they began to bore holes in the tiring Toulouse cover. Jack Carty’s accurate touch kicking was giving Connacht field position, while the gallant Nepia Fox-Matamua and Quinn Roux won a couple of opposition line-outs.

You could sense Connacht growing in belief and Toulouse becoming increasingly anxious in equal measures. The visitors were gradually forcing the pace and some sustained pressure yielded a deserved try in the 54th minute when scrum half Kieran Marmion’s pass was expertly finished off from close by the rampaging Muldoon. The dynamics of the game had changed completely as Connacht went desperately searching for that one more, priceless score which would have seen them join Leinster and Munster in the quarter-finals.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.