Connacht's home win over Sharks in Galway on Saturday evening will breed life into the early part of their season.
After opening the game with dominance, despite a lack of scoreboard pressure from the territorial and possession advantages, Connacht slipped to a 27-7 scoreline, before working their way back into a winning position.
The mental strength and resilience that they’ll have earned from the comeback will stand to them going forward. A squad needs to build a story across the length of a season and last Saturday’s victory will be a memorable chapter.
There were a few aspects of Connacht’s game that saw them dominate in two different spells.
Their kicking game gave them a lot of early dominance and territory. Ironically, they just lacked enough possession in the Sharks half to allow them to convert that into scores, but the pressure that they built should have been rewarded if it weren't for a handful of errors.
Connacht gave away a cheap penalty for taking Jason Jenkins out in the air during a lineout which allowed the Sharks to get out of trouble. Discipline is a vital piece of the jigsaw when putting together your game plan. The Sharks should have been made to work for the chance to get out of the difficult corners that Connacht put them in.
Connacht were also disrupted in the breakdown a number of times. The Sharks counter rucked and got at Ben Murphy’s ball, they even managed a couple of turnovers on top of the slower quality ball.
Despite the free flowing distribution and rangy passes from Piers O’Conor and Mack Hansen, along with strategical kicks in behind from Ioane, O’Conor and Cordero, Connacht only managed one score in that period of dominance.
The score came in the third minute. Cathal Forde had one of his many positive moments to send O’Conor into space, before a penalty launched a maul attack in the Sharks 22 that was converted by Ioane.
The Sharks upped their physicality and blitzed Connacht after the first quarter. Strong hits and turnovers, along with a powerful contestable kick from Masuku started their scoring.
Cordero knocked on in the ruck after catching the ball, a Cian Prendergast penalty for being off-feet in his counter ruck followed and The Sharks launched their new signing, Andre Esterhuizen over the line from close range.
It was a clever dummy maul and wide pass to Esterhuizen which got them on the scoreboard. Connacht mismanaged the game from there. They lost the kicking battle for a period of time and the Sharks were able to add on a few scores.
A couple of outrageously long penalties converted by Hendrikse, separated by another Esterhuizen try gave them a 20-7 lead.
Cordero, who was safe under the high ball for the rest of the game, knocked on the ball from another difficult kick. It gave The Sharks more possession in the Connacht half, and a further penalty walked Connacht back over their own line.
The first half became a bit casual, Mack Hansen let the ball bounce on the synthetic surface, something that should never be accepted in the professional game. The resultant goal line drop out was the launch pad for one of the Sharks first half tries.
In the second half, Connacht came back to life. Unfortunately, Josh Ioane left the field for a HIA and Cathal Forde’s brilliance came to the fore. He controlled proceedings, with David Hawkshaw adding his distribution to the centre.
It was Connacht’s kicking game and physicality that gave them the platform to go and fight for the win. Cathal Forde’s left footed chip kick, gathered by Hansen and fed back to Forde gave them their first score to inspire the second half performance.
They increased their physical dominance, put more pressure on the Sharks breakdown as a result and took back control up front with a scrum penalty. All that led to a maul set up, sheering away to the front with Cian Prendergast guiding the dynamic Dave Heffernan over for a try in the left hand corner.
Despite Connacht’s obvious need for improvement in the kick off receipt, they forced enough pressure through their defence for the Sharks to force their game. Shane Jennings cut the wide pass out and Ben Murphy shadowed him the whole way to the far try line to ensure that he’d get to the line untouched.
At 27-26, there was little doubt that momentum was on their side and the Sharks looked like a team that had travelled after a Currie Cup final. They lost their way, mainly due to the Connacht second half performance.
The kicking game from Cordero pinned the Sharks back and Josh Murphy was a standout in leading the physicality both in the tackle and at the breakdown, backed up by his captain, Cian Prendergast.
Connacht’s kicking game tactic was confirmed when Blade attempted an attacking kick over the defence in the Sharks 22. You’d rarely attempt that unless the coaches gave you some backing in the strategy during the week.
The set piece can either relieve or exacerbate the pressure that’s being put on a team. Niall Murray is a thorn in the side of any line out, his turnover in the final quarter highlighted how Connacht swung the momentum.
Oisin Dowling scored the all important try that put Connacht into a lead, that they wouldn’t surrender, from a tap and go penalty move. Connacht’s bench had a great impact, notably with Hawkshaw’s energy, Dylan Tierney-Martin and Paul Boyle’s physicality and turnovers at the breakdown and Dowling’s try contribution.
It was the perfect remedy for Connacht after failing to beat Munster last week in a game that they could easily have won.
There might be some improvements needed in their breakdown and from kick off receipts, but they have certainly built a game around their variety and distribution, their kicking game and the underrated ability of Cathal Forde anywhere across the middle of the field.
It was a hard fought, but well deserved victory for Connacht, in the standout performance of the Irish provinces.
