Connacht can take a great deal of heart having delivered a timely and valiant victory over Scarlets when they face South Africa’s DHL Stormers at the Sportsground on Saturday (1pm ).
This first URC clash against the former Super Rugby side from Cape Town is expected to attract a growing crowd to the College Road venue which has been able to extend its capacity to 8,000 for the first time since Covid restrictions were put in place.
With Champions Cup qualification still up for grabs, and the Stormers just behind them on the table (but with two games in hand ), Connacht need to win five of their next seven matches.
The return of a vocal crowd should be a big plus, while the possible weather conditions are an advantage to Connacht, but only if they make use of it, says Friend.
“We have been guilty on two occasions of not being good enough - the Dragons in particular, and Glasgow,” he says. And the weather - a contrast to South Africa where the weather is “not windy and pissing rain” - is an advantage for the home side.
“We are also getting back to full grounds, so we have the support from loyal fans, while they [Stormers] have to travel here. Those little things add up, but on the day it is about on-field performance. If we don’t front up, mentally and physically and are in the right space, it doesn’t matter if you are on the moon, you won’t win a game of football.
“Let’s hope Saturday is another occasion like last Saturday in Parc y Scarlets where we fronted up and we become that tough team to put away, where we are relentless did finish a game off.”
Connacht are missing five key players - Jack Carty and Dave Heffernan joined Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham on Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad, and Friend is preparing without them.
Physicality is key
It makes Connacht’s task even tougher with just a single point between the two sides. The Stormers currently sit in eighth place, but have two games in hand over their Irish opponents.
However Friend says his side needs to replicate the winning form it showed against fellow South Africans, the Bulls, when Connacht fronted up physically.
“They have a lot of attacking threats in their back field, so our kicking game needs to be spot on, and our ability to look after the ball and take chances when they present themselves. If we can do that, we put ourselves in good position to win; if we don’t, they have enough firepower to win.”
Despite the unavailability of the five in the national squad, Connacht are in a good place, having achieved a first away win of the season against the Scarlets, and a first at Parc y Scarlets in some 11 seasons. The last time Connacht won in Llanelli was at the old Stradey Park in 2002 when Mark McHugh sent over a 45 yard penalty and Michael Swift produced an injury-time try, but last season they let slip a 30-12 half-time lead as the Welsh outfit’s need proved greater.
There was no lapse in concentration on Saturday night in Wales in what Connacht hope will provide the turning point to negotiate Champions Cup qualification again. They had to prove their mettle to come back from 10-0 down after 20 minutes before taking the lead before half time. The turning point came when Tom Daly secured a cross field kick and Sam Arnold finished. Carty added two penalties as Scarlets struggled to contain Connacht’s pack, and although the hosts retook the lead with a penalty kick, Conancht went back in front before the break with their tails up and their second try. The scrum provided the platform, Paul Boyle and Cian Prendergast opened the gate, and Leva Fifita went through for the try with Carty adding the extras for a 13-18 lead.
Friend’s men held that stranglehold after the break and in a 15 minute period sealed the victory. First came two Carty penalties as the hosts struggled to maintain their discipline, and from another penalty, Connacht launched the winning attack. The pack did their best to move the ball forward before the backs took over with Marmion, celebrating his 200th cap for Connacht, Carty, and Daly all adding impetus to the attack before John Porch finished with the 54th minute try for a 13-29 lead.
It proved a sufficient advantage, particularly after flanker Leva Fifita saw yellow and the hosts were awarded a penalty try, closing the gap to nine points. It ensured Connacht spent the remaining 10 minutes soaking up pressure as Scarlets created three winning chances. However, Friend’s men delivered a defence of character and guts - more so when Fifita was controversially yellow carded again. But in the end all Scarlets could muster was a penalty closing the gap to 23-29 for a bonus point.
