Relieved Racing 92 just hold on to defy brave Connacht display

Connacht had come so close to pulling off the shock of the weekend in Paris

Racing's Teddy Thomas is tackled by John Porch of Connacht. Picture: INPHO/Dave Winter

European Champions Cup: Racing 92 26 Connacht 22 

Andy Friend has set the bar high enough in Connacht to ensure that disappointment and frustration rather than any sense of achievement were the over-riding emotions as they flew back from Paris on Sunday night.

Racing 92 looked set to follow their French rivals Clermont Auvergne and Lyon and post 50-plus points on the opening weekend of the Heineken Champions Cup when they opened up a 26-8 lead after 51 minutes but in the end were left hanging on to preserve their unbeaten European record at La Défense Arena.

A losing bonus point was the least a depleted Connacht side deserved but Friend knows they were very close to producing the sort of European shock to match their win over Toulouse seven years ago.

“We are proud of the performance but we also know we had a chance at the end and we didn’t take it. There is frustration with that. At the same time there is a lot of pride in the way the boys stuck at it for 80 minutes. We just stayed in the fight. We got a lot of energy from our bouncers (replacements).

We said before the game we believed we could win and during the game guys looked around and said we could still.

“We will take the good bits from this game, things we did well at and we will have a look at the areas we weren’t so good at and make sure we tighten those up. It’s a massive opportunity for us next week to beat Bristol at the Sportsground.”

The look of relief on the faces of the Racing 92 players at the final whistle told its own story, with Connacht letting them off the hook in the final play. Jack Carty needed to get more ground with a penalty and they were left with too much to do from the 22 when they really needed to be in the corner, while prior to that Tiernan O’Halloran was unable to reach a double hack before it went dead.

Connacht, badly missing the influence of Quinn Roux and Gavin Thornbury in the lineout, suffered a double blow in the opening half when they lost captain Jarrad Butler to a head knock and debutant flanker Sean Masterson to a knee injury.

Connacht's Sean Masterson. Picture: INPHO/Dave Winter

They found themselves 19-3 down after 24 minutes as Racing powered their way over for tries from tighthead Georges Henri Colombe, full-back Kurtley Beale and an acrobatic effort on his European debut from winger Donovan Taofifenua.

But Connacht refused to crumble and they got themselves back in the game with the likes of centres Tom Daly and Sammy Arnold, full-back John Porch, loosehead Denis Buckley and brilliant lock Ultan Dillane, leading the way.

Matt Healy cut the gap at the interval to 19-8 after a superb crosskick from Carty, and while former All Black Dominic Bird secured the bonus point for Racing after 51 minutes, it was all Connacht after that.

General view as Dominic Bird of Racing 92 and Ultan Dillane of Connacht battle for possession. Picture: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

They got back in the game when Alex Wootton intercepted and ran from inside his own 22 after 62 minutes, while Conor Oliver finished off a barrage of drives four minutes from time but they were unable to snatch a famous win.

Scorers for Racing 92: G Colombe, K Beale, D Taofifenua, D Bird tries; M Machenaud, T Iribaren 2 cons 

Scorers for Connacht: M Healy, A Wootton, C Oliver tries; J Carty pen; T Daly 2 cons 

RACING 92: K Beale; T Thomas, V Vakatawa, H Chavancy (c), D Taofifenua; F Russell, T Iribaren (M Machenaud 2-14 HIA & 60); E Ben Arous (G Gogichashvili 51), C Chat (K Le Guen 18), G Colombe (C Gomes Sa 51); B Le Roux (D Ryan 68), D Bird; W Lauret (I Diallo 60), B Chouzenoux, F Sanconnie.

CONNACHT: J Porch (T O'Halloran 77); A Wootton, S Arnold (B Aki 51), T Daly, M Healy; J Carty, K Marmion (C Blade 51); D Buckley (J Duggan 64), D Heffernan (S Delahunt 66), F Bealham (J Aungier 51); E Masterson, U Dillane; S Masterson (C Prendergast 35), J Butler (c) (C Oliver 14 HIA), P Boyle.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU).