Connacht slump to defeat against dominant Stormers in URC opener
Stormers put four tries on Connacht on the night as Stuart Lancasters men floundered in front of a home crowd
The expectation surrounding Connacht as Stuart Lancaster heads into his second season in charge was not matched by the performance on the field and they were punished by a Stormers side who wore them down with a dominant pack.
It was a bitterly disappointing performance on a night when they honoured the players who won the PRO12 title in 2016, many of those players and head coach Pat Lam back at the Sportsground for the first time since the €40m redevelopment of the ground.
Two late tries wrapped up a big win for the Cape Town side but there was no disputing their dominance throughout.
Connacht were without the seven players who were on duty for Ireland during the summer while the Stormers were missing a dozen players on Springboks duty in Australia.
Connacht led 12-10 at the end of an opening where they were in difficulty in the scrum and guilty of a lot of poor handling in a game which struggled to come to life on a blustery evening.
The Stormers opened up a 10-0 lead by the end of the opening quarter and looked set to extend their lead as they pounded the home line coming up to the interval.
But an intercept a few metres from his own line and a clearance which ended up deep in the other 22 set in motion a remarkable few minutes for Connacht when they hit the Stormers for two tries.
Mack Hansen, back for his first game for Connacht in eleven months, delivered the first one after 38 minutes after Niall Murray won a lineout. Centre Cathal Forde took him up and when he was stopped a few metres from the line, Hansen picked at the base and dived over. Sam Gilbert added the conversion from the left.
And they punished the Cape Town side for failing to clear their lines with the clock in the red with Hansen again going close before a recycle saw outhalf Josh Ioane made the line for an unconverted try.
That good the home following on their feet and ignited a contest which up to then the South Africans had an edge with fewer mistakes.
Hansen’s first action on his return was to spring back and deny centre Ruhan Nel after an intercept from deep, but a couple of phases later outhalf Jurie Matthee got them off the mark with a penalty.
The opening try came after 20 minutes after good pressure from the Stormers with scrumhalf Andre Warner threading a grubber which his fullback Warrick Gelant finished behind the posts.
Flanker Seán O’Brien did well to get back and deny Matthee after a good break before Connacht sorted out their scrum with debutant loosehead Francois van Wyk and Finlay Bealham getting on top.
It took a great triple effort from Hansen, Gilbert and John Devine to prevent winger Seabelo Senatla in the right corner three minutes after the restart before Matthee missed a penalty from 35 metres in front of the posts.
Gilbert extended Connacht’s lead with a 52nd minute penalty from the 22 but a yellow card to captain Paul Boyle for coming in from the side saw the Stormers strike for their second try, mauling their way from distance before replacement tighthead Sazi Sandi got in under the posts with the conversion making it 17-15 to the South Africans after 57 minutes with impressive No.8 Hacjivah Dayimani leading the charge.
Connacht had to saturate enormous pressure but defended stoutly with replacement scrumhalf Caolin Blade, despite limping when he came on after Ben Murphy took a knock, executing a turnover when it seemed the pressure would pay off for the South Africans.
Replacement Yaqeen Ahmed had a try scratched six minutes from time for crossing but the reprieve was brief when debutant Vernon Paolo rumbled over from close range.
And the Stormers secured a bonus point and denied Connacht a losing one when replacement Ezekiel Ngobeni chased a clearance to score in the final play as Connacht’s season got off to a disappointing start.
Tries: M Hansen, J Ioane. Con: S Gilbert. Pen: Gilbert.
Tries: W Gelant, S Sandi. V Paolo, E Ngobeni. Cons: J Matthee (2), Y Ahmed. Pen: Matthee.
S Gilbert; M Hansen, J Devine (S Naughton 72), C Forde, F Treacy (S Bolton 66); J Ioane, B Murphy (C Blade 48); F van Wyk (J Duggan 56), E de Buitléar (M Victory 56), F Bealham (F Barrett 56); N Murray, J Murphy (D O’Connor, 56); S O’Brien, S Hurley-Langton (M Flynn 66), P Boyle.
W Gelant (W Simelane 72); S Senatla, R Nel, J Roche, L Zas; J Matthee (Y Ahmed 64), A Warner (E Ngobeni 74); V Matongo (O Reid 47), AH Venter (S Sandi 47), N Fouché; G Porter (A Smith 47), JD Schickerling (C Evans 47); L Nel (V Paulo 74), R Norton, H Dayimani.
Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
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