With only six games left in the regular BKT URC season, Connacht have slipped out of the play-off spots and face a challenging away trip to Benetton this weekend.
Despite having a numerical advantage for three quarters of the 38-14 home defeat to the Lions last weekend, the hosts were easily contained.
Tighthead prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye was rightly sent off after 17 minutes for a high tackle with a high degree of force to the head of Conor Oliver, who was unable to finish the game.
It wasn't a straightforward decision however, as a Connacht foot made contact with the ball from a trick play on a tap and go move, prompting Ntlabakanye to rush up off the defensive line early, forcing a bit of mistimed contact with Oliver in an uncontrolled manner.
If anything, the flanker was still rising from picking the ball up and if there was any change in body height, Oliver was actually getting taller and therefore making the legal area for the tighthead prop even bigger.
The tackle was a bit unorthodox, but rightfully red-carded as Connacht crossed for their opening try to draw the game level at 7-7.
With the wind at their back and an extra man, you’d think that Pete Wilkins' side would have settled into the game and start building a lead, but it wasn’t to be.
They struggled to cross the gain line in attack, with the credit going to the Lions for their aggressive and low body height in the tackle, aside from the earlier incident.
The red card certainly galvanised them as a team and they raised their energy to continue challenging Connacht in many aspects of the game.
They took the lead in the first half, scoring off a six-man maul. Connacht were somewhat loose with the ball in attack and gave the Lions an opportunity to gain territory. They also compounded errors and penalties, which handed some control over to the South Africans who were playing into the wind in the first half.
The Lions had the strongest scrum going into this fixture and losing a prop didn’t affect that significantly.
They continued to scrummage with only seven players, gaining parity on their own put in to set up their fast flowing and crisp offloading attacking game, while nullifying any advantage that Connacht thought they might have with an extra man.
The South Africans won some scrum penalties and even turned a scrum over against the head to ensure that they went in at half-time in the lead and turning around to play with the wind, which went a long way to relieving the pressure later in the game.
With multiple errors, compounded by an influx of penalty concessions and the inability to cross the gain line freely, Connacht tried to play across the strong Lions defence and gifted winger Edwill dan der Merwe a try, intercepting a pass from Byron Ralston.
Connacht will be most frustrated that their own basics left them down.
When they managed to get within one score and begin to turn the game back in their favour after JJ Hanrahan’s try, they immediately dropped the kick receipt and handed the control back to the visitors.
Some turnovers between both teams eventually finished with a long range kick from out-half Jordan Hendrikse, giving the Lions another entry into the Connacht 22.
However, they didn’t have to work too hard for outside centre Erich Cronje to slip through poorly attempted tackles to put distance between the teams again.
It was an uphill battle that Connacht never looked like climbing.
They were outscored by five tries to one while playing with a one-man advantage.
The Lions have a potent attacking game and showed how difficult they are to play against on a fast surface, changing the point of contact with accurate passes and a very effective offloading game that made Connacht look very average at home.
There were too many errors that were within Connacht’s control. That’s hugely frustrating on the day, but when they look back and review the game, they will know that there is massive room for improvement.
Both out-halves made kicking errors that are uncharacteristic and forced a number of knock-ons in attack. Connacht never really challenged the Lions defence until it was nearly too late, but still found errors after multiple line breaks in the final quarter.
To the Lions' credit, they chopped Connacht low in defence and stopped them from getting any momentum in what can be a very effective attacking structure.
The balance between challenging at the breakdown and filling the field with numbers worked in their favour, maybe even a template that the national team used against Ireland, with a similar attacking structure.
The Lions brought so much energy to their game that Connacht looked like the team that were down a player late in the game. Even when the game was won and the clock was in the red, the Lions had one last crack off an attacking play instead of kicking the ball out and taking their victory.
The South Africans played with a very clear game plan and once they got their noses in front, they used the wind to stay far away from their own goal as much as possible.
While they exited efficiently and played with rock solid basics, Connacht dropped contestable kicks, restart receipts and never got up to the intensity that was required to stay in the play-off positions.
After winning their last three games, one frustrating defeat shouldn’t set Connacht back too far.
They’re level on points with Benetton, which should sharpen their focus while travelling to Italy.
With only five points separating Stormers in fifth to Ospreys in 11th - Connacht currently occupy seventh position in the standings - there’s a long way to go with half a dozen games remaining.
A mix of lower placed teams and interprovincial games against Munster and Leinster form part of Connacht’s run-in.
Wilkins and his coaching team will be confident that they can turn their fortunes around quite quickly, which starts with a consolidating away trip to Italy this weekend.
Watch Munster v Cardiff in the URC on Saturday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
