Connacht take on the Dragons at the Sportsground on Friday night (6:30 ) hoping to halt a recent poor run of form and build some much needed momentum for their European Challenge Cup semi final the following week.
Last week’s poor effort away to Edinburgh saw them lose 32-5 and come away from the Scottish capital with plenty to ponder. The Dragons are the nearest side to Connacht in the table, all of 11 points ahead of them with a game in hand but the westerners did the double on the Newport based region last season and will be looking to maintain that kind of form.
If Michael Bradley’s men are to raise any sort of a challenge away to Northampton on Easter Saturday they will need to find some good form here to build confidence.
On Friday last Edinburgh led 13-0 at half time and in a five minute spell during the third quarter they put the game beyond the reach of their opponents with a brace of tries from Ross Ford and Andrew Turnball.
However the home side had to wait until the very last minute of the contest to add the bonus point try with Allister Hogg getting in for the try and Christ Patterson converting after a frustrating closing quarter of the contest,
To Connacht’s credit they staged a spirited revival in the final 20 minutes led by the lively Conor O’Loughlin at scrum half, and the men in green were rewarded with a consolation try from Troy Nathan, overall though, this was a night to forget for Michael Bradley’s side.
The first score of the game came on 22 minutes as Edinburgh loose-head prop Kyle Traynor drove over from a five metre lineout after a well judged Phil Godman penalty had put his side in prime position. Paterson converted from the touchline.
Connacht responded well but their solid scrum and superb lineout wasn’t being converted into phase building rugby and seven minutes after opening the scoring, the home side went further ahead with a Paterson penalty from the 10 metre line.
Ian Keatley missed a very kickable shot at goal as half time approached and the signs were ominous for the visitors when Paterson got his second three pointer just before the break to stretch Edinburgh’s advantage to a comfortable 13 points.
Edinburgh opened the second half at breakneck pace and were eventually rewarded for their efforts on 12 minutes when Ford crowned an impressive return from international duty with a try out wide after some quick tempo offloading. Turnball sliced through the visitors’ defence soon after and Patterson converted, having hit the post at the previous attempt.
Meanwhile Ireland's Grand Slam winning defensive coach Les Kiss joined the Connacht squad on Monday helping them in their preparation for what will be their second last home match of the season.
Kiss, who joined the Ireland coaching staff at the start of the season was a key member of the Ireland squad and is credited, along with the rest of the Ireland coaching staff and management, as being a key member of the Irish set up.
Statistically Connacht have the worst defence in the Magners League with an average of 27 point conceded per game this season while the Dragons are second in that table shipping 22 points per game but they are scoring an average of 18 points each round compared to Connacht’s record of a mere 11.
