Connacht fightback falls short as Edinburgh inflict fifth defeat in a row
SIGNING OFF: Shayne Bolton of Connacht in action against Edinburgh players Ross Thompson, second from right, and Wes Goosen, right, during the United Rugby Championship match between Connacht and Edinburgh at Dexcom Stadium in Galway. Photo by Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile
Connacht came from 14 points adrift to get level in the second half but never managed to get ahead and fell to a fifth successive URC defeat. It was visitors Edinburgh who kept their season alive by securing a bonus-point win at Dexcom Stadium.
A frustrating final home game of the season in many ways summed up the Connacht campaign as they failed to make the most of opportunities while simultaneously leaking soft tries to an Edinburgh side who have kept their qualification hopes alive to the final round.
Connacht knew beforehand that results elsewhere this weekend meant they could not qualify for the knockout stages of the URC or next season’s Champions Cup, but Edinburgh had a lot to play for as they were still in contention.
A warm sunny evening added to the end-of-season feel of the encounter on a night when Bundee Aki made his 150th appearance for Connacht at the end of a week where he was named a Lion for the second time.
But it was the other Lion on the field, Edinburgh’s loosehead Pierre Schoeman, who made the first mark when he drove over beside the posts after the Scots had walked their way down the field with three lineout penalties in a row. Ross Thompson added the conversion to make it 7-0 after eight minutes.
Connacht enjoyed plenty of possession after that but sloppy handling proved costly and when they finally got in through skipper Cian Prendergast after 19 minutes, the try was scratched after a review spotted crossing from Sean Jansen in the build-up which took out a defender.
Edinburgh doubled their lead after 27 minutes when winger Jack Brown put Hamish Watson away down the left and he dummied full-back Santiago Cordero to score in the corner. Thompson, who displayed an array of skills at out-half including one audacious flick-up when Cordero chipped, landed the difficult conversion from the left to make it 14-0.
Connacht hit back after the restart and a superb break by Shayne Bolton set up the opportunity which ended with Finn Treacy racing in to score a try converted by JJ Hanrahan after 42 minutes.
Treacy followed up with a second try ten minutes later when he ran a superb line to take a pop pass from scrum-half Ben Murphy and scored another converted try to tie the game at 14-14.
Ben Muncaster drove over to make it 21-14 for Edinburgh after 57 minutes but Connacht hit back and after a good counterkick from full-back Santiago Cordero. The Argentine international who is departing in a couple of weeks then delivered the final pass for Shayne Bolton to get over in the right corner. Hanrahan, another who is departing, landed a brilliant conversion from the right wing to tie the game at 21-21 with 15 minutes left.
But with the game hanging in the balance it was Edinburgh who seized the moment when replacement scrum-half Charlie Shiel broke from deep to score under the posts and they made the game safe when Ben Healy landed a 40-metre penalty at the death.
F Treacy (2), S Bolton. Cons: JJ Hanrahan (3 from 3).
Tries: P Schoeman, H Watson, B Muncaster, C Shiel. Cons: R Thompson (3 from 3), Ben Healy (1 from 1).
S Cordero; S Bolton, H Gavin (D Hawkshaw half-time), B Aki, F Treacy; JJ Hanrahan, B Murphy (C Blade 65); D Buckley (P Dooley 61), D Heffernan (D Tierney-Martin 62), F Bealham (J Aungier 62); J Murphy, D Murray (O Dowling 54-68); C Prendergast (c), C Oliver, S Jansen (P Boyle 54).
W Goosen; D Graham, M Currie, M Tuipulotu (F Thomson 56), J Brown; R Thompson (B Healy 73), A Price (C Shiel 68); P Schoeman (B Venter 62), E Ashman (P Harrison 64), D Rae (J Sebastian 50); M Sykes (G Young 72), S Skinner; B Muncaster (L McConnell 74), H Watson, M Bradbury (c).
Ben Breakspear (Wales).
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