RaboDirect Round-Up

Leinster 22-23 Ospreys

Fri 23rd March @ The RDS

Drico played 58 minutes for Leinster. (c) Jack Arigho.

Leinster’s incredible 20-game unbeaten run finally came to an end on Friday night at the RDS. Ospreys hooker Richard Hibbard bounced over for a 76th-minute try and Dan Biggar showed big cojones to win the game for the Welsh region with the conversion. An opportunistic try from Ian Madigan and 17 points from Fergus McFadden’s boot had seemingly put Leinster on course for yet another win.

Tries from George Stowers and then Hibbard’s late effort, along with a total of 13 points off Biggar’s tee did the damage for the Ospreys, who solidified their position of 3rd in the league. More positively for Leinster, the returning Brian O’Driscoll and Leo Cullen as well as debutant Brad Thorn all came through unscathed. Joe Schmidt’s side remain top of the league, 8 points ahead of Munster. Next Saturday will see the rivals battle it out at Thomond Park.

The full Leinster vs. Ospreys game is available on the RTE Player. Here’s the highlights:

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Treviso 23-27 Ulster

Sat 24th March @ Stadio di Monigo

Ulster won in dramatic circumstances on Saturday as substitute Ian Whitten crossed for a try in the last minute. Alberto di Bernardo’s 69th-minute score, converted by Kris Burton, looked to have secured a win for Treviso with a 23-13 lead. But Paddy Wallace immediately replied with a try of his own for Ulster, converted by Ruan Pienaar, and that set the scene for Whitten’s late intervention.

Chris Henry scored Ulster’s other try in the first half, with Pienaar contributing 12 points overall. A loss for Ulster would have seriously dented their play-off ambitions but this win keeps them 5th, just a single point behind the Warriors. Brian McLaughlin’s men return to Ravenhill on Friday to host bottom side Aironi. The target there has to be a bonus point win.

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Connacht 16-20 Munster

Sat 24th March @ The Sportsground

Connacht were narrow losers yet again on Saturday night. (c) Olly Griffin.

Eric Elwood will have been livid to see his side once again lose from a winning position on Saturday night in Galway. Mia Nikora’s penalty after 65 mins put Connacht into 16-13 lead but Munster hit back swiftly when Tommy O’Donnell finished powerfully after a Tomas O’Leary break. Ian Keatley’s conversion was the final score of the game as Connacht failed to find a winning score.

Hooker Ethienne Reynecke scored Connacht’s only try in the first half, with Nikora adding the province’s other 11 points. Simon Zebo got on the scoresheet for Munster, finishing off a good team effort which featured a beautiful Denis Hurley offload. Keatley converted both tries as well as knocking over two penalties. Neither side’s league position is affected by this result. Next up, Connacht travel to the Dragons on Friday while Munster host Leinster on Saturday.

Catch the full Connacht vs. Munster game on the TG4 player (click ‘Sport’ then ‘Rugbai Beo’).

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The latest PRO12 table:

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Photos courtesy:  Olly Griffin, Jack Arigho.

RaboDirect Round-Up

Ulster 33-17 Munster

Friday 30th December @ Ravenhill

Tony McGahan won't have been pleased with Munster's performance. (c) Ivan O'Riordan.

Ulster managed to secure a try-scoring bonus point in  their comfortable win over a disappointing Munster on Friday night. You can read a full match report here.

Stefan Terblanche, John Afoa, Ian Humphreys and Ruan Pienaar were the try-scorers for Ulster. Humphreys kicked 10 points and Pienaar added a penalty. For Munster, 21-year-old wing Luke O’Dea and Johne Murphy scored tries. Ian Keatley added two penalties and a conversion.

This loss means Munster drop to 4th in the league. Worryingly, the Cardiff Blues in 5th have a game in hand over Munster and are only 3 points behind. Tony McGahan’s  men are back in Thomond Park next Saturday where they’re up against a Treviso side who have realistic playoff hopes.

Ulster’s 5 points don’t see them rise from 8th position but it does bring them closer to the playoff places. They’re now only 7 points behind Munster and if they can get a good run together then they’ll be in the shake-up come the tail-end of the season. Next up for them is a trip to Murrayfield on Friday to take on Edinburgh, a place behind them in the league. It’s the kind of match Ulster need to be winning if they want to compete for a playoff spot.

Here’s the four Ulster tries from the match on Friday night:

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You can watch the full Ulster vs. Munster match over on the RTE Player by clicking this link.

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Connacht 13-15 Leinster

Sunday 1st January @ The Sportsground

Reynecke and O'Halloran, pictured tackling Munster's Forgarty last weekend, were the Connacht try-scorers. (c) Ivan O'Riordan.

Connacht came within inches of beating Leinster as Mia Nikora’s last-gasp drop goal dropped just under the bar. Referee John Lacey had to consult the TMO to confirm that the ball hadn’t snuck over. It was a painful end to a brave Connacht effort in which they scored two tries to Leinster’s none. Joe Schmidt’s team didn’t hit the form of previous weeks but they will be relieved to have come away with the win.

Man of the Match Isa Nacewa was key as he kicked all 15 of Leinster’s points in a flawless display off the tee. Connacht will rue the fact that they don’t have as reliable a place-kicker. Matthew Jarvis missed two first-half penalties and Nikora was off target with a conversion and the drop-goal effort. Ethienne Reynecke and Tiernan O’Halloran were the try-scorers for Connacht. Both tries came with Leinster down to 14 men following the sin-binnings of, first, Leo Cullen and then Isaac Boss.

Leinster remain in a comfortable 6 point lead at the top of the PRO12 after this win. They’re away to the Blues on Saturday in what could be a tricky fixture. As mentioned above, the Blues are breathing down Munster’s necks for a playoff berth and they will be targeting a win on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Connacht’s 12th defeat in a row means they remain rooted in the bottom three of the table. Fortunately for them, the Dragons and Aironi are in similarly poor form. The Dragons do have a game in hand over Connacht and a win would mean the Dragons drawing level on points with Eric Elwood’s team. Connacht travel to Aironi on Saturday and this has to be the game that ends their losing streak. The Italians have won only 2 of their 16 matches in all competitions this season. Admittedly, Aironi will be thinking the same thing about Connacht, who’ve won 3 in 16.

Here’s the highlights from the Connacht vs. Leinster match:

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This is how the PRO12 table shapes up after the weekend’s action:

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Photos courtesy:  Ivan O’Riordan.

Toulouse Burst Connacht Bubble

Match Report

Connacht 10-36 Toulouse

19th November @ The Sports Ground

Beauxis kicked 21 points for Toulouse.

Connacht’s performance failed to live up to the occasion at The Sports Ground on Saturday was they went down to a star-studded Toulouse side. The western province did put up a valiant fight and their second half performance, where they held Toulouse scoreless until the dying minutes, was an improvement on the opening half. Eric Elwood’s side did well to deny Toulouse the try-scoring bonus point and even managed a try of their own in the second period.

With a full house of 9,120 watching on, including recently elected President Michael D. Higgins,  Toulouse made an impressive start to the match which marked Connacht’s 100th tie in European rugby. Outhalf Lionel Beauxis opened the scoring with a penalty after 5 minutes.  Toulouse looked to run the ball from deep at every opportunity and Maxime Medard in particular looked threatening with several breaks down the left wing.

Beauxis doubled the lead for Toulouse with a beautiful drop goal from just inside the Connacht half. The 15-times capped French international then slotted a second penalty after another menacing Medard incursion into the Connacht half. Connacht’s defence in this opening period was not matching the aggressiveness they had brought to Harlequins the weekend before. Too many times, the defensive line stood off Toulouse, allowing the French side time on the ball to create the openings that were beginning to cut Connacht apart.

The Toulouse pack turned up the pressure after Connacht put-in to a scrum under their own posts. No. 8 Louis Picamoles managed to pick the ball from under Paul O’Donohoe and he fed Thierry Dusautoir. The IRB Player of The Year was hauled down just short of the try-line by O’Donohoe but blindside Jean Bouilhou snuck the ball over from the breakdown. Beauxis tapped over the easy conversion.

At 16-0 down after only a quarter of the match, Connacht needed to give the home crowd something positive to get behind. Captain Gavin Duffy led by example, claiming the drop-off. David McSharry broke through the Toulouse defence and hit his centre partner Eoin Griffin who made further ground. Toulouse conceded the penalty and Connacht went for the corner, the crowd back to full volume. John Muldoon launched himself at Toulouse from the line-out maul, but his teammates were slow to the breakdown and Dusautoir stole the ball. Luke Burgess broke away and kicked cross-field to Clement Poitrenaud. Fortunately for Connacht the ball bounced into touch.

Mike McCarthy was correctly sent to the bin for a high tackle on Vincent Clerc soon after and this seemed to signal the end of any hope of a comeback for the Western province. The Toulouse forwards once again dominated the Connacht scrum, winning a penalty under the posts which Beauxis slotted. Connacht once again put great pressure onto their drop off, forcing Yannick Jauzion into dropping the ball. Picamoles was then penalised for tackling O’Donohoe off the ball and Mia Nikora put Connacht on the scoreboard for the first time.

After yet another penalty against the Connacht scrum, Toulouse finished the half with another 3 points from Beauxis to lead 22-3. Toulouse had cut the Connacht defence apart on many occasions but only scored the one try as the final pass often didn’t go to hand. The second half began in similar fashion as Toulouse threatened to cut loose. McSharry halted one attack with a huge hit on Beauxis and then minutes later, the Toulouse flyhalf knocked on with the line at his mercy. Finally, Toulouse got the score their dominance deserved when they were awarded a penalty try, a harsh call by referee Greg Garner after only one wheeled scrum. Beauxis converted.

As Toulouse took their foot off the pedal, Connacht gradually got themselves back into the game. They enjoyed a prolonged spell of possession and good field position, as they looked more threatening with the ball. McCarthy knocked on with the try line beckoning but Connacht kept plugging away and were rewarded with a penalty try of their own after they finally got to grips with the Toulouse scrum. It was a well deserved try for Connacht and crowd at the Sports Ground enjoyed the moment thoroughly. Nikora added the conversion.

Nyanga came off the bench to score the final try.

Any hopes of a late revival for Connacht were extinguished as replacement hooker Ethienne Reynecke was yellow carded for taking Luke McAlister out as the New Zealander chased his own kick. Replacement flanker Yannick Nyanga touched down for Toulouse’s third try with three minutes left. Beauxis added the conversion to take his points haul to 21. The three-time champions were onto the scent of a bonus-point fourth try but they had left it too late and Connacht repelled the final attack.

 

Photos courtesy:  Pierre-Selim

Boot of Evans Denies Connacht

Match Report

Harlequins 25-17 Connacht

11th November @ The Stoop

Connacht suffered disappointment on their Heineken Cup debut at the Stoop on Friday night, being denied a deserved losing bonus point in the dying stages of the match. Eric Elwood’s men scored two tries to Harlequins’ one but ultimately it was the boot of Nick Evans that denied them anything in this match. The New Zealander struck 20 of his side’s points.

Evans kicked 20 points. Photo via David Howlett

As expected of any debutants, Connacht came bursting out of the blocks in this game, showing they were not afraid to run the ball from deep early on. However, it was ‘Quins who got on the scoreboard first, a penalty from Evans after Gavin Duffy was penalised for holding onto the ball in the tackle. Mia Nikora responded two minutes with a penalty of his own after Harlequins were punished for the same offence. Evans restored the lead with his second penalty for Conor O’Shea’s team when referee Jerome Garces spotted Connacht offside.

Connacht’s positive start to the game was rewarded in the 13^th minute as Eoin Griffin sliced through the Harlequins defensive line after an intelligent decoy run by second-row Michael Swift. 22-year-old centre Griffin drew the last defender to send Tiernan O’Halloran over for Connacht’s first ever try in the Heineken Cup. Nikora added the extras to put Connacht 10-6 up.

Harlequins surged back at the Western province and began to put multiple phases together. Evans reduced the deficit to 10-9 when he slotted another penalty after his side went through 20 phases of play, Connacht doing well to deny a try with ‘Quins threatening from just metres out.

In the 31^st minute, after ‘Quins again went through numerous phases, scrumhalf Karl Dickson sniped over from close-range for what would be the only try for the current Aviva Premiership leaders. Evans made no mistake with the conversion, 16-10 to Harlequins. The All Black hit another penalty soon after to extend this lead after a high tackle on Chris Robshaw.

Encouragingly, Connacht finished the half attacking in Harlequins territory and came out after half time re-invigorated. After ‘Quins had a try correctly disallowed, Connacht’s replacement outhalf, Niall O’Connor, missed his first effort at goal. A well-judged Gavin Duffy cross-kick then allowed Brian Tuohy to bundle Sam Smith into touch five metres from his own line, setting up promising field position for Connacht. After strong carries by Swift and John Muldoon amongst others, Tuohy floated a beautiful skip pass to Duffy who went over in the corner against his former club. O’Connor added the conversion.

Once again, Harlequins responded well to Connacht’s try. The TMO denied them a score in the 67^th minute, Mike McCarthy doing just enough to deny Smith a score from Evans’ grubber. Evans then put his side 22-17 up after John Muldoon was caught offside. ‘Quins nearly put the game beyond doubt as Joe Marler broke from inside his own half, feeding Mike Brown, who in turn offloaded to Nick Easter. Easter’s attempted offload to Smith was knocked on and Connacht remained in losing bonus point territory.

From the resulting set piece, though, Connacht were penalized for hands in the scrum and Evans stepped up to slot what was the final score of the game. Connacht valiantly made one last effort but ‘Quins aggressive defence denied them any chance of a point.

So, in the end disappointment for Connacht. They showed cutting edge at times going forward and defended bravely. Ultimately, it was Harlequins’ ability to retain possession and go through multiple phases that stretched Connacht, forcing them into conceding the penalties that cost them here. Elwood and his players will take encouragement from this performance ahead of Toulouse’s visit to The Sportsground. This may be Connacht’s debut season at the top table of European club rugby but they showed that they are not here to merely make up the numbers.

Photo courtesy: David Howlett