Unbeaten Connacht face toughest hurdle yet away to Glasgow Warriors

THE early season buzz about Connacht Rugby shows no sign of abating.

But nobody is getting carried away either – well, they shouldn’t be – not least the management and team, ahead of Friday’s fourth round tie away to Glasgow Warriors.

Three wins from the first three league games is a feat never before achieved by the province, and has been well documented.

What is, perhaps, just as unique as that string of results, is the manner in which the wins were earned.

Connacht are now winning games that in the past they would have lost. They’re winning games they probably should have lost.

They’re winning without really hitting their peak – winning while not playing particularly well, and certainly not at their best.

Last Friday at the Sportsground was a case in point. Leinster did enough to edge that game, looked early on that they would.

Conceding far too many penalties, Connacht trailed 9-0 after a quarter of an hour. It could easily have slipped away.

Instead, Connacht – with an extraordinary sense of inner belief – summoned up a comeback, the highlight of which was a sublime try from sniping scrum-half Kieran Marmion that lit up an otherwise defensively oriented, and error-strewn, match. That moment of magic coupled with a well-organised and heroic defence earned the spoils.

Connacht relied on good fortune, too, to keep their line intact, and twice – correctly – the visitors had tries disallowed.

Good teams win games they should lose; they acquire a winning habit. Connacht’s 100% start to the season suggests they’re getting there.

But the reasons for caution about getting carried away remain the same as every other season – Connacht’s squad is threadbare and injuries will continue to take their toll as the season progresses.

True, the ‘cavalry’, in the form of big-name foreign signings have yet to feature but the injury crisis at hooker highlights Connacht’s lack of strength in depth that might hamper them as they attempt to make it four wins from four this weekend, and keep the momentum going throughout the full season.

Dave Heffernan has done well so far at hooker but without Sean Henry (knee), Jason Harris-Wright, or Tom McCartney, who has yet to arrive from Auckland, Connacht’s hooker problem is a worry.

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