Connacht head coach Pat Lam has lamented the missed opportunities to see off Grenoble but admitted he was extremely proud of the performance in the Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat in France.
The Guinness Pro12 table-toppers came within five minutes of a famous victory in France, but a drop-goal from Grenoble out-half Jonathan Wisniewski proved to be the decisive score in a 33-32 victory for the hosts.
Connacht raced into an early 19-3 lead with tries from Niyi Adeolokun (2) and Robbie Henshaw putting the visitors into a commanding lead.
"I thought, 'Jeez, I'm proud of these guys'"
The Top 14 side however battled back before a penalty from substitute John Cooney in the final 10 minutes looked like it could send the underdogs through to the last four before Wisniewski struck the final score of the game.
Lam concedes the defeat was hard to take, but given the opposition, venue and changes to his team – James Connolly was a late replacement for Eoin McKeon – he says there are lessons to be learnt following the narrow loss.
"I sat in the changing room while the boys were out there [on the field]. I was obviously deflated and then I just started to reflect on the week we had,” he said.
“There was a lot of last-minute changes and I thought, 'Jeez, I'm proud of these guys'."
The early first-half lead was a testament to the attacking flair they have demonstrated all season, but Lam believes they could have been more street-wise in the circumstances.
"We will be disappointed on Monday, because there was a couple of details we didn't quite nail.
“There was an opportunity when we were 13 points up and we didn't execute what we had done in training. I knew at 13 we just needed to get one more score and we could have killed them off.
“Fair play to them.
“Boys are out on their feet trying to keep them out. Obviously the yellow card [Denis Buckley] didn’t help us, but when they went ahead with the drop goal there was a lot of composure. I thought we should have kept the ball at the end there.”
Some observers believe that Connacht are guilty of playing too much attacking rugby and their high-risk strategy can leave them vulnerable on occasions, but the Kiwi doesn’t agree with those suggesting a more pragmatic approach.
“Everyone always tells us to kick it out, but we kicked the ball out and they scored, so that’s maybe backing it when it really counts.”
“The boys have already talked about it – we’ll just take our learnings from it. This competition is now over, we can’t bring it back.”
His Grenoble counterpart Bernard Jackman apologised in his post-match interview for the win and admitted that he would have had no complaints if his former team had claimed a place in the semi-finals.
"I am really sorry that we won tonight,” he said.
“I am really happy for us, but I feel if Connacht won there would be absolutely no regrets on my part. It's very difficult to come to France and win and Connacht did everything but."
The former Ireland international added that while the province wouldn’t have a high-profile among the French rugby public, they are making a name for themselves with their rate of progression.
"Connacht aren't a team that are well known in France.
“The match was live on free-to-air television. They showed France and the rest of Europe what we saw when we analysed them.
They are a team that has made a massive amount of progress, for a young side. They are a team that are growing, and believe in what they are trying to achieve."
