Bradley hails Carr’s battling qualities

MICHAEL BRADLEY has held up young wing Fionn Carr as the perfect example why Connacht should be allowed continue play a key role in Irish provincial rugby.

With the province’s future continually questioned, there’s always a sense of foreboding but the way they punched above their weight at the RDS on Saturday was a poke in the eye for the prophets of doom.

Bottom of the table, Connacht played most the quality rugby against leaders Leinster and there was hardly a dissenting voice that the visitors deserved to win instead of losing to an injury-time three-pointer from Jonathan Sexton.

Bradley believes his side’s display was a powerful statement and he paid particular tribute to ex-Leinster flyer Carr, one of a number of players who moved from other provinces to secure game-time.

The 24-year-old Carr tore shreds in the Leinster defence to score two tries and set hooker Sean Cronin up for what might have been a match-winning third.

“Fionn is a fantastic finisher but other parts of his game have come on immensely; he’s very good now at clearing his lines and he was excellent in that way against the Dragons (the previous week).

“There are other guys out there, loads of them like Sean (Cronin), Jamie Hagan, Ian Keatley, Frank Murphy, Keith Matthews and the like that are all benefiting hugely from what Connacht are doing.

“You talk about a role in Irish rugby for Connacht? There is definitely one, but we’ve been harping on about that forever,” said Bradley.

“Leinster are big men, physically strong and the idea was to put the ball behind them and turn them, frustrate them and not give them any targets in defence. I suppose it was like French away rugby, take your drop goals when they present themselves; it nearly paid off.”

Connacht take on Bourgoin in the quarter-final of the Amlin Cup on April 10 and it’s an opportunity to push on with the possibility of qualifying for the Heineken Cup next season. Bradley said: “The game with Bourgoin is huge but, to look at our chances of qualification another way, it’s important we beat Edinburgh. If that happened, and Ulster lose to Cardiff, it could all come down to our match against Ulster for the European slot.”