Possession name of the game for Pat Lam
Yes, I confirmed I was playing for Munster that day but I think he knew that anyway.
He recalled how after hugging the Connacht coach PJ Dwyer and punching the air in the stand at the final whistle, Dwyer told him to stop smiling so not to let Munster know how much that win meant to them.
With the two sides set to meet in Limerick later that evening, I suggested that their proud record could be in jeopardy as Connacht were sure to ask serious questions of Munster once again.
In demanding conditions, they did more than that with an outstanding performance and were not only good value for their six point win but should have won by a greater margin.
With Guinness Pro12 derbies taking place in Dublin and Limerick, it proved the perfect opportunity to evaluate the league leaders’ current wellbeing and benchmark their progress against the other Irish provinces.
They didn’t disappoint. There is a growing trend here as Connacht have won three of their four games against Munster in 2015, starting with that highly encouraging 24-16 victory that set the standard for the year at the Sportsground on New Year’s Day.
The fact that they are still leading the way in the Pro 12 after an outstanding performance in testing circumstances in Thomond Park says everything you need to know about the strides being made by Connacht under Pat Lam.
Let’s start by recognising that the quality of rugby produced by Lam’s side was far superior to that displayed by any of the other provinces over the weekend.
Across the board, both in attack, defence and setpiece efficiency, Connacht really impressed especially in the opening half when playing with the aid of a strong wind.
The interesting point here is, even with the elements, they kept the ball in hand more often than not, trusting their handling abilities and a new found belief in playing the ball out of the tackle.
As Anthony Foley later said Munster didn’t have any ball to play with (in the first half). They didn’t because Connacht refused to kick it away!
The most pleasing aspect here was that their forwards, especially Denis Buckley, Aly Muldowney, academy graduate Ultan Dillane and current academy open side James Connolly, all looked very comfortable in possession in broken play.
Contrast that with Munster and their forwards in particular. More often than not, they look for contact as opposed to keeping the ball alive. The Munster backline selected for this game looked, on paper at least, the most exciting we have seen for some time. Unfortunately with the possession stakes running at 77% in Connacht’s favour in that opening half, we rarely got a glimpse of what they were capable of. Once again Francis Saili was restricted to generating turnovers at the breakdown, something he had the skills and hunger to execute, but he clearly has so much more than that to offer.
On his first start, Argentine winger Lucas Amorosino was keen to continue from where his countrymen left off at the World Cup, by delivering some tasty offloads, but his Munster colleagues didn’t appear tuned into his wavelength.
And that is the most impressive aspect of Connacht’s play at present. Everyone is on the same page and in Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki they have two players with the ability to get hands through the tackle and keep the ball alive. All of their support runners know this and look to play off them. You will go along way to see a better try than the one those two combined to cement last Saturday’s win at the death.
The easy thing for Connacht to do at that stage when protecting a one point lead was to kick deep into the Munster 22 and rely on their excellent defence to keep Munster away from the danger zone.
Contrast that with the sterile approach on offer the night before at the RDS with a scoreless second half highlighting the lack of ambition from both sides.
In some respects I can understand why, on the back of successive defeats in Europe, a win was the priority for Leo Cullen but neither side approached anything like the attacking prowess shown by Connacht.
Munster’s porous defensive effort over the opening 40 minutes contributed heavily to that.
Connacht have clearly turned a corner this season having just lost out in the first round play off to Gloucester last May for a place in the Champions Cup this season. While many will point to the competitive advantage they had in the Pro12 during the World Cup, with only two players away on Irish duty, their form since Ireland’s quarter-final exit has been equally consistent.
The most impressive aspect of their long awaited first competitive win of the professional era in Limerick was that of the match day squad against Munster last Saturday, 13 were either graduates or current members of their academy. While highlighting the excellent contribution of Connolly in terms of his continuity skills, equally impressive was 22-year-old hooker Shane Delahunt who carried out all of his set-piece duties with the skills and composure of an experienced pro.
The biggest indication of Connacht’s growing maturity was their management of the 10 minutes spent by John Muldoon when sent to the bin for a clear yellow card offence after tackling Andrew Conway without the ball.
What was less clearcut was the penalty try awarded by referee Ben Whitehouse. That would have rattled any side.
Unlike the lead they blew in similar circumstances at the death, away to Cardiff last season, this time Connacht simply rolled up their sleeves and tackled with more intent. New Zealand have made an art form out of managing the ten minute period when they have a man in the bin and Connacht looked equally composed on Saturday.
In fact a missed penalty from Craig Ronaldson, another plucked from AIL obscurity along with their highly impressive winger Matt Healy, should have increased Connacht’s lead during that period.
Connacht enter new territory now with a place in next season’s Champions Cup their main priority.
A top four finish would be the icing on the cake. When you see how abysmal Treviso have been in the top tier of European competition, nobody could question their right to compete with the elite.
To see man of the match Bundee Aki so emotional when presented with his award after the game says everything about the culture Lam has developed in his squad.
Only 18 months ago Aki was winning a Super XV title as an integral part of the Waikato Chiefs. Yet this victory meant as much to him as it did to PJ Dwyer’s men 29 years ago.
Connacht have been down this road before but never with the sustained excellence they are producing at present. No doubt injury will play a big part in their efforts to maintain their current high level performances with the news that Henshaw is due to be out for the foreseeable future with a broken hand a big blow. Right now the current generation are doing Connacht rugby proud. They have also contributed to getting a monkey off my back. Perhaps now I don’t have to hear or read about 1986 every time Connacht rock up at Thomond Park.
Small mercies in defeat.
