Griffin says ambitious Connacht badly needs wins

Connacht centre Eoin Griffin believes his young side have to put more wins on the board to match their ambition.

The 22-year-old made a comeback from injury in the 17-0 defeat to Leinster at the RDS on Saturday and he remains optimistic, despite what he described as a disappointing performance.

Although frustrated at Connacht’s most recent reversals to Leinster and Munster, Griffin still believes his side are headed in the right direction and he points positively to the age profile of the squad.

Rob Henshaw, for injured skipper Gavin Duffy, and Kieran Marmion, for scrum-half Frank Murphy, have been thrown into the fray.

“Two stars definitely,” said Griffin. I know Robbie a bit more because he’s in the outside backs and I work a little bit more with him. He’s really settled in very quickly. I know, it took me a couple of years to get comfortable. But he’s done very well. He’s as tough as nails and has skills to boot.

“Then, Kieran is all class. He reads the game very well and he’s got a lot stronger than he looks. People can underestimate him. You saw a couple of lads falling off him in the game. Both of them have had really impressive seasons so far. Hopefully now they can kick on and make a couple of squads in the coming weeks and do well. I know Robbie is still U20s but he’s really knocking on the door; Kieran as well.”

The potential from within Connacht’s back division doesn’t end with Henshaw, 19, and Marmion, 20; Griffin, Dave McSharry and Tiernan O’Halloran are just 22 while Danie Poolman is 23.

“There are other lads 25 or under,” said Griffin. “They have at least five to seven years or more left in their career. So if we all stay together...

“We need to get more wins. We need to be more clinical but we’re creating a lot of opportunities. Hopefully once that comes, it will be very hard to ignore us.

“We have youth on our side and we’re able to look forward with ambition. Kyle Tonetti is coming back and he’s a big player for us, a really, really good player. We’ve got competition there as well. We just really need to nail it down and get through those opportunities. That’s what we’re aiming for.”