Dream season complete as Connacht crowned champions
There was, after all, plenty to drink in at the end of a day which had seen the province deliver on the promise of the previous three years.
Surrounded by around a thousand of their supporters who had enveloped the vehicle and were occupying every vantage point on the stadium’s structure, the players who had earlier stunned four-time champions Leinster into submission looked out at the scene and heard ‘The Fields of Athenry’ being sung with satisfaction and pride.
The chorus was repeated over and over again as the Guinness Pro12 trophy sat in the front window, and why not?
This was a moment to savour. It may never happen again, a team exceeding expectation and achieving something to which they had not previously come close.
Yet even as the celebrations were in full swing, there was already a determination in the voices of head coach Pat Lam and captain John Muldoon, a fitting man-of-the-match, that this would not be the last such occasion.
In winning a first league title 13 years after being on the brink of disbandment by its paymasters at the IRFU, Connacht has caught up with its provincial neighbours and has no intention of again being the weak link it was once perceived.
“We celebrated after the match but in the changing-room Pat talked, Mul talked, it’s about backing that up next year, we can’t just be one-trick ponies,” lock Andrew Browne said.
“We know it’s going to be a tough task next year but if we want to progress in the way we’ve talked about, the way we know Connacht can, then we have to show up next year.
“I read Mul’s comments when he was asked if he was jealous of the other provinces and he said ‘yeah, of course I’m jealous’. It’s hard looking on when you see the Irish teams having the success they’ve had but again that drives us. It’s incredible, we’ve got to that point and we’ve got to stay here and perform again. Come in and have a good pre-season and focus the minds.”
There will be more celebrations before then, of course, not least with a homecoming parade in Galway yesterday as the victory in Edinburgh was lauded back at the place where the dream was born. This was no overnight success for a rugby province formed 131 years ago. Lam’s arrival from New Zealand in 2013 had built on the sporadic success enjoyed under predecessor Eric Elwood and turned epic but isolated victories into a season of consistency.
Saturday’s win in the Scottish sunshine was the culmination of three seasons’ endeavour initiated by Lam and piece by piece implemented by players who had embraced his vision wholeheartedly.
The final saw it all come together brilliantly as a Leinster team boasting 11 Ireland internationals found no answer to Connacht’s attacking pace, physicality, and creativity. Leo Cullen’s side had lost a 12th Test player when Devin Toner withdrew following the death of his father and black armbands adorned their all-white strip as a mark of respect, a moment’s silence observed by the 34,550 crowd.
If there was an even split between the Westerners, Leinster’s boys in blue, and neutrals, it was only numeric. The fans in green were by far the most prominent, lifting their players with the decibels that greeted their arrival at the stadium and cheering the loudest as they overcame early jitters to ignite the contest with two wonderfully executed tries that were perfect examples of Connacht’s willingness to keep ball in hand even when exiting their own 22.
When wing Matt Healy, the league’s leading try scorer and unlucky earlier in the week not to have been added to his province’s quintet of Ireland tourists to South Africa next month, returned a Leinster kick with great pace from inside his own half, Connacht were up and running.
Pro12 players’ player of the season Bundee Aki was the link man feeding full-back Tiernan O’Halloran who used another burst of speed to turn opposite number Rob Kearney inside out and score the opening try on 12 minutes, leaving the Ireland and Lions No.15 thumping the ground in frustration.
AJ MacGinty converted and then came the try of the day, but not before Leinster had lost lock Mick Kearney to a head injury assessment, the former Connacht forward coming out second best as he attempted to tackle former pack-mate Finlay Bealham, Connacht’s only ever present player this season making his 32nd appearance.
Tails were up. Connacht’s forwards led by their immaculate captain Muldoon, making his 275th appearance for his province, were imposing their will and Connacht’s backs were flying. None more so than wing Niyi Adeolokun, a double try scorer in last week’s semi-final win over defending champions Glasgow, who now made an indelible mark on this final.
There had been some great hands from forwards and backs in the build-up to keep the ball alive in and out of contact before it found its way out to the right where Adeolokun was waiting to spring into life himself. Receiving the ball at speed he chipped and chased and then with great skill cushioned it with his boot to take the pace off and deftly send it over the line for him to pounce on.
Wonderful stuff. MacGinty missed with the conversion but added a penalty which helped Connacht to a 15-0 half-time lead. The tries were the standout moments of the game along with some powerful hits that ensured that Leinster and playmaker Johnny Sexton could rarely get into their stride.
Sexton did not get a chance to impose his game on this showcase as he had in the semi-final win over Ulster eight days previously, Leinster not registering on the scoreboard until a 43rd minute penalty.
All of Connacht’s back three would score, though, with Healy adding a third try in the second half as he raced onto fly-half MacGinty’s well judged through-kick to put the game beyond Leinster at 20-3 after 57 minutes.
Replacement hooker and former Connacht player Sean Cronin did touch down 10 minutes later, Leinster having what looked to have been harshly denied a try through sub Zane Kirchner in the 62nd minute due to a forward pass ruling.
Sexton added the conversion but at 20-10 with 11 minutes remaining, Connacht were not about to let this one slip. Or the next one.
“We’ve got a plan and we’re back (for pre-season) on June 30,” Lam said. “I’ve already set the goals for next year.
“Being realistic, we’ve got to go defend this and go back-to-back in the Pro12. It’s realistic for us to try and win it again.
“The second one is I want to try and get into the knock-out stages of the Champions Cup. I’ll put that out there now because come June 30, we start the work again.
“We continue what we’re building. That’s the key. You set goals but you work every day to achieve them.”
T O’Halloran (S O’Leary, 69-72); N Adeolokun, R Henshaw, B Aki, M Healy; AJ MacGinty, K Marmion (J Cooney, 60; P Robb, 65); R Loughney (R Ah You, 69), T McCartney (D Heffernan, 72), F Bealham; U Dillane (A Browne, 62), A Muldowney; E McKeon (S O’Brien, 40), J Heenan, J Muldoon – captain.
JP Cooney.
R Kearney (Z Kirchner, 60); D Kearney (I Madigan, 75), G Ringrose, B Te’o, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan (L McGrath, 57); J McGrath (P Dooley, ), R Strauss (S Cronin, 41), M Ross (T Furlong, 41); R Molony (J Conan, 62), M Kearney (H Triggs, 16); R Ruddock, J Murphy, J Heaslip – captain.
Nigel Owens (Wales)
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