Connacht ready and willing 'to go up a level' ahead of Leinster return

Westerners have long since moved beyond moral victories but first-leg defeat to Blues had many positives. Now they want to back it up

Ready to do it all over again: Mack Hansen and Connacht teammates at training in Galway on Tuesday. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Connacht, like Irish sides of all stripes and across all sports down the years, have long since weaned themselves off the gruel that is moral victory.

Last Friday may be an exception, though only if we accept that the 26-21 loss to Leinster in the first leg of their European round of 16 clash is a 'defeat' when the full-time whistle signalled nothing more definitive than the midway point.

Whatever way you split those hairs, the value the game held for a Connacht side that had shipped over 40 points at home to an understrength Leinster two weeks earlier in the URC is abundantly clear.

Speaking after it, out-half and captain Jack Carty dismissed the value of their win against Leinster in the RDS 14 months earlier on the basis that it wasn’t their opponent’s strongest suit. This latest tete-a-tete was the real McCoy.

Carty was far more excited by how they stood up five days ago against the best Leinster had to offer. Like his head coach Andy Friend, he delighted in the way they opted against “thinking outside the box”, stuck to their systems and chipped away at the scoreboard.

Assistant coach Pete Wilkins picked up on that this week.

“In the past, in games against Leinster, we have maybe not trusted ourselves when they have got a score or two ahead. We haven’t had that trust that we can chip away at that lead and we have tried to pull out miracle plays and solve the scoreboard in an instant," Wilkins said. 

“If nothing else that first leg shows that we actually can remain diligent in playing our way and taking three points when they come, kicking for field position when we need to and taking opportunities with them when they are there.” 

There was clearly a deep understanding in Connacht that they couldn’t win this tie last week but that it could have been very easily lost there and then. A five-point deficit is far from terminal to their ambitions, even if it does make the next score that bit more important.

There are other reasons besides for their confidence. As with Leinster, Friend’s side left the Sportsground last Friday with the sense that, for all their good play on both sides of the ball, there is so much to improve on. That’s a good place to be.

The question for both sides now is what to roll out again and what to replace. That goes for tactics, emotional pitch and personnel with Wilkins probably speaking for everyone on both sides when he said that the same again just won’t suffice.

“We need to go up a level,” he said.

As with the first leg, Connacht’s baseline must be that they keep the tie alive as long as they possibly can. Get to a point where the benches are emptying and the scores are within touching distance and the pressure tilts onto Leinster’s shoulders.

“I don’t think the game management of it changes, certainly not for the first portion of it anyway. When it gets to that hour mark of the second leg you will have a really good idea as to where you are sitting and then you probably manage the last quarter based on that.

“There has been really good discussions with the game managers on the team about what that last quarter could look like and the different ways you could play it out depending on how the scoreboard looks.

“At the same time, it’s a careful balance because you don’t want your attention too far ahead on that last section of the game and not make the most of the first 60 minutes.”