Connacht in driving seat in European Shield

Mont de Marsan 12 Connacht 26

Connacht, the first Irish province to win on French soil, will take a fourteen points advantage into next weekend¹s second leg of this Parker Pen Challenge Cup tie after this impressive win at Stade Guy Boniface in Mont de Marsan on Saturday night.

Connacht, who lost their 100% record in the Celtic League a week ago when they crashed 40-0 at home to Pontypridd, bounced back with a performance that showed plenty of class and courage.

Connacht led 17-9 at the break after slipping 6-0 behind in the opening quarter to two penalties from Waisale Serevi after seven and 20 minutes.

Connacht, who applied pressure on the home line from the start, finally broke the French resistance after 24 minutes when Eoin Reddan fed a close range scrum to Wayne Munn who had come in from the left wing to squirm his way trough several bodies to score near the left post.

Eric Elwood, who saw an eleventh minute penalty hit a post, added the points before he and Serevi exchanged penalties in the run-up to the break.

Then just on half-time Eoin Reddan scored a wonderful try, taking the ball at the base of a scrum on the halfway line to dart his way through the cover and outpace the retreating defenders to score by the posts, presenting Elwood with an easy conversion.

Elwood extended Connacht¹s lead fifteen minutes after the restart with another penalty which was cancelled nine minutes later by Serevi.

But Mont de Marsan could not find a way through an excellent Connacht defence and bit by bit their powerful tackling saw Connacht take control.

Elwood landed two more penalties before the end to give Connacht a fourteen points advantage going into the second leg when Steph Nel¹s men will hope to finish off the French challenge at Crowley Park in Galway next Saturday.

Mont de Marsan: O. Toulouze; A. Bouyssie, F. Dabadie, A. Vignau-Tuquet, A. Aguilar; W. Serevi, N. Cabannes; S. Boizot, O. Gouaillard, F. Anglade; P. Lago, M. Koita; P. Alaoui, L. Monbeig, J. Labat.

Replacements:J. Vincent for Monbeig, 50 mins; L. Dehez for Gouaillard, 57 mins; C. Mathieu for Alaoui, 64 mins; X. Audu for Boizot, 69 mins; N. Morales for Cabannes, 77 mins.

Connacht: G. Duffy; J. Norton, D. Yapp, S. Moore, W. Munn; E. Elwood, E. Reddan; R. McCormack, M. Uijs, P. Bracken; D. Browne, R. Frost; C. Rigney, J. O¹Sullivan, J. O¹Connor.

Replacements: M. McHugh for Moore, 66 mins; J. Flannery for Uijs, 66 mins; D. McFarland for McCormack, 66 mins; F. Boiroux for Bracken, 66 mins; P. Neville for O¹Sullivan, 76 mins; E. Peters for Browne, 76 mins.

Referee: Giovanni Morandin (Italy).