Battle is over for Connacht
So it was for Connacht in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final at the Sportsgrounds yesterday as they failed to overcome the nine-point deficit from the first leg at the Stoop.
After another magnificent performance, coupled with a thrilling finish, Michael Bradley's men proved that Munster don't hold copyright on heartbreak.
After a nervous start, during which that nine-point first-leg deficit became 16 due to a penalty/try/conversion from Munster-bound Quins outhalf Paul Burke and a Connacht penalty from Mark McHugh.
Thereafter Connacht went on to dominate the first-half, and prospects looked good.
Their centre partnership of McHugh (especially) and Darren Yapp troubled Mel Deane and World Cup-winner Will Greenwood and when Yapp touched down in the 26th minute and McHugh converted, it looked like the westerners were on the high road.
For the rest of that half they dominated possession and position, set up camp on or inside the visitors 22 and looked the more impressive. But for all that dominance, Connacht wouldn't score again before the break. Occasions that cried out for a drop-goal attempt, especially with Eric Elwood and McHugh in wait, were passed up, as Connacht went for broke.
"A few decisions we might revisit," was all coach Bradley would allow afterwards, preferring instead to focus on the positive like their storming start to the second half.
Less than two minutes after the restart Elwood had Connacht three points ahead in the game, six behind on the tie, with the kind of simple drop-goal they had eschewed to then; seven minutes later McHugh added a penalty. Then after a defence-scattering bull-run by prop Dan McFarland, Elwood was in under the posts for a superb try which McHugh converted to put Connacht four points ahead on aggregate, and the cheers could probably be heard in Dublin.
Responding to that support, the men in green maintained their effort and kept the mighty Quins pinned in their own half. A thumping tackle by substitute winger Conor O'Loughlin on Harlequins flyer Ugo Monye was greeted with a huge roar, and though the diminutive O'Loughlin managed to strip Monye of the ball, referee Nigel Whitehouse pinged the strapping England 7's specialist anyway, for not releasing.
McHugh lined up the kick, about 32 metres from the end-line.
"As a kicker you keep your head down, and I knew as I kicked that I had struck it well," said McHugh. "I just pulled it ever so slightly."
"I think if they had scored then, they'd have won," admitted Quins coach Mike Evans. It wasn't the losing of the match, but as Evans said, it would have gone a long way towards ensuring victory. Instead, a few minutes later, and having finally worked out the previously perfect Connacht lineout, Quins came back and had their own ten-minute period of dominance.
They were much more efficient however and managed eight points in those ten minutes. First up was a try from the otherwise near-anonymous Greenwood, after a lineout steal. Then came a penalty by Burke, after a collapsed maul. It was 23-18 in the 79th minute which had Connacht five ahead in the game but four behind on the aggregate. For the near ten minutes of injury-time played, the momentum swung back to the home side. Again, they pounded. Again the Quins defence stood solid.
A couple of occasions stood out for Evans.
"We had two big set-pieces in our own corner; the first, we disrupted their lineout on our five metre line, set up so they couldn't go to their designated guy to drive on, it went to the back where they couldn't set up the drive and we turned it over. Shortly after that, they got the scrum, again on our five metre line, and for the first time in the game we absolutely rammed them at scrum time, turned the ball over; I felt the game was won there."
That was it, for Connacht. Long clearance, ball kicked inexplicably into touch on the return by stand-in full-back Conor McPhillips, the dream over. But as their rampaging hooker Bernard Jackman said afterwards, Connacht are now a force to be reckoned with.
"We're extremely disappointed, we gave it everything on the pitch, the lads, the crowd, everyone performed, but we just couldn't get the break we needed. We are disappointed, but we've set a marker for ourselves, we're a team to be reckoned with now."
: D. Hewitt (inj, T. Robinson 27); C. McPhillips, D. Yapp (1T), M. McHugh (2P 2C), W. Munn (inj, C. O'Loughlin 57); E. Elwood (1T 1DG), M. Walls; D. McFarland, B. Jackman (c), P. Bracken (A. Clarke 73); D. Browne (M. McCarthy 76), A. Farley; M. Swift (P. Neville 57), M. Lacey, J. O'Sullivan.
: G. Duffy; G. Harder, W. Greenwood (1T), M. Deane, U. Monye; P. Burke (1T 2P 1C), S. Keogh; C. Jones (M. Worsley 51), J. Hayter, J. Dawson; S. Miall, K. Rudzki (B. Davison 50); P. Sanderson, A. Vos (c); T. Diprose.
: N. Whitehouse (Wales).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
