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Connacht hold off Sharks for bonus-point win

Updated / Monday, 9 Jan 2023 16:00
Connacht celebrate their opening try of the game from Conor Oliver
Connacht celebrate their opening try of the game from Conor Oliver

After back to back defeats over Christmas, a bonus-point win comes as sweet relief to Connacht and Andy Friend.

The province had been expected to make light work of the traveling Sharks, who left the bulk of their first team and head coach Neil Powell back in Durban, due to the arduous travel arrangements in getting to Ireland. And while this performance won't go down in the ages, it's largely irrelevant when conditions are so difficult.

Nobody said that January at the Sportsground would be much fun, but it has its charms.

You can get all four seasons in one afternoon watching a Connacht home game, but this was 80 minutes of winter.

With the wind behind their backs in the opening half, Connacht put their score up in the first 40, and managed that lead after the break.

Tries from Conor Oliver, Cathal Forde and Tiernan O'Halloran built up a 19-0 buffer, with Forde securing the bonus point score on 55 minutes, and while they conceded two tries in the final quarter the result was never really in doubt.

There could have been a Connacht try inside five seconds, the visitors failing to deal with Carty's kickoff, which almost fell into the hands of Hansen in a move reminiscent of his try for Ireland at the Stade de France last February.

Playing with the considerable wind behind them in the opening half, Connacht dominated territory in a slow opening without ever really threatening to score, while a lengthy injury delay to Oisin Dowling, and multiple scrum resets punctuated a laboured first quarter of an hour.

The tactics from the visitors were obvious early on; get to half time in reasonable shape, by which point the breeze could be a 16th man. Not the most sophisticated idea, but we’ve seen worse gameplans in January Sportsground weather.

It was working for the opening quarter, but right on 20 minutes Connacht got the score to settle them down.

Thembelani Bholi strayed offside just outside the 22 to hand the hosts a penalty, which Carty wasted little time in booting to touch. Connacht had fluffed two previous lineout attempts, one for a crooked throw and another for offside, but this time they got it right, and the Sharks were powerless to stop the maul as it rolled towards the line, Oliver getting the decisive grounding.

It stayed 5-0 after Carty’s conversion struck the posts, but just three minutes later they extended the lead with a second try, inspired by some brilliance by Hansen.

The Ireland international had come in off his wing to act as first receiver off a midfield scrum, and with the Sharks defence shooting up, he lobbed a delicate chip into the space behind, Tom Farrell cannoning onto it, before passing back inside to Forde to score.

This time, Carty’s conversion found the target, pushing the lead out to 12-0.

It didn’t do much to loosen the game up. The Sharks seemed content to be just 12 behind and persisted to run down the clock an any opportunity, holding committee meetings before lineouts and creating caterpillars at rucks for their box-kicks that the Connacht backfield were dealing with easily.

Andy Friend’s side have kicked their fair share of aimless ball away this season, but tonight they were aided by a Sharks back three that were struggling to get a read on the diagonal wind.

Right before half time it was a long Porch kick from turnover ball that forced another mistake, Hansen and Prendergast’s good chase forcing the Sharks to go off their feet at the ruck, and off the resulting penalty Tiernan O’Halloran’s overlapping run off the right of Farrell saw the full-back go in for his side’s third try.

The conversion from Carty left it 19-0 at the break, but with Connacht’s game management set to be tested in the second 40 as they played into a sneeze of Atlantic wind and rain.

With the weather behind them after the break, the Sharks started to play some rugby, and within two minutes of the restart they had the hosts under big pressure, when multiple penalties led to the sin-binning of Shane Delahunt.

Connacht survived that early scare, Josh Murphy instrumental as they held up a maul close to their own line, while the Sharks struggled to get a gauge on the wind behind their backs, two kicks going out on the full stalling their progress.

They almost had their bonus-point on 53 minutes when Carty started and finished a breathless move up the left wing, but after a check with the TMO the score was wiped off the board following a knock-on by Farrell.

It didn't matter though. Two minutes later Forde dived in for his second try of the night after blocking down a kick from Nevaldo Fleurs, the Sharks out-half having dawdled over his clearance, but Carty’s inconsistencies off the tee saw his conversion slice wide.

Right on the hour mark, the Sharks gave themselves a lifeline when Rohan Janse van Ransburg found a way through to get his side on the board, while a beautifully judged conversion by Lionel Cronje cut Connacht’s lead to 24-7.

The hosts were fortunate to hold onto that lead 15 minutes from the end when they overplayed the ball in their own 22 and saw a clearance kick charged down, with Kerron van Vuuren’s try ruled out due to an offside against one of his teammates.

In the dying minutes, Dian Bleuler pushed his way over for a second Sharks try from close range, but it was just a consolation, Connacht holding on for a valuable 12-point win.

Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; John Porch, Tom Farrell, Cathal Forde, Mack Hansen; Jack Carty (capt), Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley, Shane Delahunt, Finlay Bealham; Oisín Dowling, Darragh Murray; Josh Murphy, Conor Oliver, Shamus Hurley-Langton.

Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jordan Duggan, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Leva Fifita, Cian Prendergast, Caolin Blade, Conor Fitzgerald, Byron Ralston.

Cell C Sharks: Anthony Volmink, Yaw Penxe, Murray Koster, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Marnus Potgieter; Nevaldo Fleurs, Cameron Wright; Ntuthuko Mchunu, Fezo Mbatha, Carlu Sadie; Thembelani Bholi, Reniel Hugo (capt); James Venter, Henco Venter, Celimpilo Gumede.

Replacements: Kerron van Vuuren, Dian Bleuler, Khutha Mchunu, Ockie Barnard, Corne Rahl, Grant Williams, Lionel Cronje, Ethan Hooker.

Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)


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