Connacht head coach Pat Lam says his team must overcome their crippling injury crisis if they are to make further history this season.
The Ospreys moved to the top of the Guinness Pro12 with a resounding bonus-point 29-7 win over the reigning champions at the Liberty Stadium, with Lam’s depleted side shorn of the services of 20 senior players.
The visitors were second best for large portions of the match and also lost Jack Carty and Jake Heenan through injury to rub salt into the wounds.
Lam couldn’t hide his disappointment after the match, but believed his players couldn’t be faulted for their efforts.
“Unfortunately we had 24 turnovers. We couldn’t secure our ball and a lot of that came down to execution,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“We do look like a team that is makeshift and put together. I can’t fault character. When the score got to 14-0 we were hanging in there.
“There was a lot of scrambling D [defence]. Unfortunately a lot of our effort was in the wrong area of the field and we were tidying up our mistakes.”
The loss of Carty to a suspected ACL injury means he is the fourth out-half to be sidelined, while Heenan left the field of play after just 12 minutes.
Winger Danie Poolman filled in at inside centre, while scrum-half Caolin Blade took over duties at 10.
The westerners have a month to lick their wounds before they face Zebre, followed by their final two outings in the Champions Cup.
Connacht are locked in a three-way battle at the top with Wasps and Toulouse and will face Zebre (home) and Toulouse (away) as they bid to reach the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
The head coach is keenly aware that there is little time to feel sorry for themselves with such crucial fixtures on the horizon.
"You lose your seven, you lose your 10, that’s our fourth 10 down now. Caolin Blade had to cover scrum half," Lam continued.
“We park the Pro12 for a few weeks and we’ve two massive games to get little Connacht into the last eight of Champions Cup rugby which would be massive.
“We have just got to get ourselves back on the horse.
“We need to see what the injury situation is after today, reassess and have a good build-up.”
