Elwood and Duffy delighted with first win of the season

Connacht’s head coach and captain have both praised the squad effort which yielded the province’s first RaboDirect PRO12 win of the season against Zebre in Italy on Friday.

Tries from winger Tiernan O’Halloran, number 8 George Naoupu and lock Mike McCarthy as well as a 15-point haul from flyhalf Miah Nikora helped Connacht to a 30-17 win over newcomers Zebre.

Injuries forced Elwood into using all 23 members of his match day squad and man-of-the-match Gavin Duffy hailed the contribution of the entire squad.

“I think it was a good display in the first half and although we suffered from injury in the second half, we battled well throughout the game,” he said.

“It was a combined effort from the entire squad. At times, it wasn't pretty but we got the win and the four points and that's the important thing.”

Having slumped to a disappointing 9-13 defeat to Cardiff Blues in Round one, Friday’s victory was just what Connacht needed ahead of a tricky assignment against the Scarlets on Saturday.

Head coach Elwood was particularly pleased to see his players learn from the mistakes made in the defeat to Cardiff which saw them cough up eleven turnovers.

“I thought our application was outstanding, we controlled possession and got some good scores,” he said.

“In the second half we were forced to shuffle our hand because of the injuries and a couple of sin binnings (David Gannon and Rodney Ah You).

“But we showed real guts and fighting spirit, and I couldn't be more pleased with the effort we put in.”