Westerners get the job done but not without some stress

Connacht 29

Dragons 23

THE sun will be shining on Connacht over the next three months. Every single one of their opening seven fixtures are winnable based on last season’s form. The World Cup has decimated many forthcoming opponents and if Pat Lam’s men are to take another stride forward this season, this is the time to make hay.

More than anything else, the four points were all that mattered on Friday. As opening day games go, it was compelling with plenty of exciting flourishes but it also had the familiar opening day rustiness with disjointed spells costing Connacht during a topsy turvy second half.

The Dragons will feel they should have won this. Why wouldn’t they, they had the ball on the edge of the Connacht 22 with three minutes remaining, trailing by two points and seemingly on the brink of salvaging a result. However, Connacht had the answer, up stepped young Kiwi signing Neipa Fox-Matauma as he robbed possession at the breakdown for an invaluable turnover.

The visitors were now off guard in defence and Connacht exploited this with a quick attack. Bundee Aki got the ball and ran crossfield first before bursting through a gap and making what turned out to be a 40 metre break that paved the way for Fionn Carr to score a try just minutes after being introduced as a replacement. Game over.

This was a finish full of fine margins and this will be a season full of tight decisions just like this. Year three for Pat Lam promises to be the most challenging, especially after the progress of last season where Connacht finished just shy of the top six with more points and wins than ever before.

There have been no big signings whatsoever. Promote from within is the policy across the board, laudable when it comes to both coaching, where the likes of forwards coach Jimmy Duffy and Assistant Attack Coach Conor McPhillips have been elevated, and playing, where great strides have been made in player development over the last few years.

The big signings of the past three years have largely failed to work. Second row Craig Clarke was besieged by dreaded concussion problems and Mils Muliaina just didn’t make the on ield headlines they had hoped he would make. That leaves us with Bundee Aki as a possible success, but his undoubted talent still hasn’t come through over a consistent period the time for the team and he is yet to score a try.

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