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Connacht's play-off hopes fade with defeat to Stormers

Updated / Saturday, 18 May 2024 22:26
Manie Libbok kicked 11 of the Stormers' 16 points
Manie Libbok kicked 11 of the Stormers' 16 points

Connacht's hopes of securing a place in next season’s Investec Champions Cup look all but over after they were outlasted by the Stormers in an arm-wrestle in Galway.

Pete Wilkins’ side will need a bonus-point win away to Leinster in two weeks if they’re to stand any chance of making the BKT United Rugby Championship play-offs, while even then their fate would be out of their hands.

The province’s 16-12 defeat to the Stormers was low-scoring but hugely entertaining, as both sides looked to play wide and adventurously.

For the first 60 minutes, Connacht were trading blow-for-blow with John Dobson’s side. Tries for Caolin Blade and Jack Aungier, and a conversion from Jack Carty, had the hosts 12-10 ahead with just over an hour played. An Angelo Davids try, and five points from the boot of Manie Libbok had been all the South Africans could generate in the opening 60 minutes.

Ultimately, this game was decided on power, as the Stormers wore Connacht down up front in the final quarter, with a pair of penalties for Libbok edging his side out to a four-point lead, which Connacht couldn’t overturn in their final game at the Dexcom Stadium, before this summer’s redevelopment begins.

Tiernan O'Halloran made his 238th appearance for Connacht, in his final home game before retirement

The home side looked fired up and physical early on. Carty and Shamus Hurley-Langton combined for a huge double-tackle to win a turnover, before Sean Jansen's hard running line through the middle spilt the Stormers defence, only for John Porch to later knock on.

There was a frightening pace to the opening 10 minutes, with both sides using the favourable conditions to get width on the ball, with Carty finding Tiernan O’Halloran with a skip-pass out on the right wing, but the full-back's break was defended well by the visitors.

On 18 minutes the Stormers had the first opportunity for points when Porch was caught holding onto the ball just short of his own posts, but the visitors turned down a shot at goal in favour of a scrum. Connacht defended that drive, only for Blade to knock the ball on, but when the visitors won another scrum penalty moments later, they wisely called for the tee, as Libbok kicked them into a 3-0 lead, with 21 minutes played.

Connacht were almost in from the resulting restart, as O’Halloran found a gap in midfield as he returned a deep kick, breaking towards the 22 where the hosts won a penalty, but the full-back's attempt at taking a quick-tap backfired as he lost possession in contact.

On 25 minutes it looked like the Stormers were in for a try when Angelo Davids hared down the touchline to score, only for it to be chalked off after a forward pass in the build-up, and Connacht made them pay for the error.

Two quick penalties followed for the home side as they worked their way up towards the South Africans’ line, and when another penalty came their way under the posts, they went all in on scoring a try. It proved to be the right call as Blade sniped over the line to score, before Carty’s conversion put Connacht 7-3 in front, with 32 minutes played.

The away side always looked dangerous in broken play, and when Connacht’s exit from their 22 was too deep, Damian Willemse ran it right back at them to break towards the line, which led to a penalty in the corner. But with the final play of the half, Connacht’s defence stood up to the Stormers maul, as they made it to the break with their 7-3 lead intact.

The second half started with Connacht holding possession more, helped in part by some Stormers indiscipline, where they conceded two quick penalties for high-tackles.

Making the possession count was proving an issue though, summed up by an agonising knock-on from Byron Ralston after it looked like he was about to break into space.

That wastefulness was punished on 50 minutes by the first major Stormers attack of the half, when Warrick Gelant's gentle pop put Libbok bursting through a gap, and he had Davids on the overlap to send his winger into score.

Libbok’s conversion sent the visitors back in front, 10-7, but a penalty off the restart gave Connacht a great chance to respond after Carty kicked for the corner. Frustratingly, Aungier tripped in the lineout, resulting in a dummy throw and a free-kick against the hosts.

Aungier made up for that error within minutes. Another penalty gave Connacht the chance to go back into the corner, and after a series of short pick-and-go attempts, the tighthead prop barged over to score, aided by a powerful latch from Dave Heffernan. Carty’s conversion missed left and wide, but the hosts were back in front, 12-10, at the hour mark.

With the game into the final quarter, it started to get tense, and the Stormers looked to put their bigger forwards pack to work. A scrum penalty gave them the chance to kick down into the corner, only for Connacht to once again deal with the maul. The visitors did still retain possession though, as they worked their way in towards the posts, before Oisin Dowling came up with a jackal penalty to relieve the pressure.

On 67 minutes, the Stormers nudged themselves in front when Libbok’s long-range penalty curled its way over the posts, leaving the minimum between the sides at 13-12.

The tourists were getting on top of the Connacht scrum by now, and four minutes later they won another penalty just outside the 22, allowing Libbok extend that lead, as he tagged on another three points to make it 16-12.

A midfield penalty set up a potential grandstand finale, as Connacht established possession just outside the 22 with just five minutes left, but after losing possession and finding themselves pinned back into their own half, it would be the final chance they got to pull off a great escape.

Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; John Porch, David Hawkshaw, Bundee Aki, Byron Ralston; Jack Carty, Caolin Blade; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan (capt), Finlay Bealham; Joe Joyce, Darragh Murray; Cian Prendergast, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Sean Jansen.

Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jordan Duggan, Jack Aungier, Oisín Dowling, Jarrad Butler, Colm Reilly, Cathal Forde, Santiago Cordero.

Stormers: Warrick Gelant; Suleiman Hartzenberg, Dan du Plessis, Damian Willemse, Angelo Davids; Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies; Brok Harris, Joseph Dweba, Frans Malherbe; Salmaan Moerat (capt), Ruben van Heerden; Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, Hacjivah Dayimani.

Replacements: Andre-Hugo Venter, Kwenzo Blose, Neethling Fouche, Adre Smith, Marcel Theunissen, Stefan Ungerer, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)

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