Connacht enjoy a break from action this week, giving them time to prepare for their final URC game of the season against Leinster in Dublin on Friday week (May 31 ).
With hopes of securing a URC quarter-final no longer in their own hands, Connacht not only have to beat Leinster, but results elsewhere must also go their way.
The 12-16 loss to DHL Stormers in their last home game of the season was both "disappointing and frustrating" for players and fans, says head coach Pete Wilkins.
“We knew we could stop them, do damage, but ultimately too many times we cost ourselves possession opportunities in that attacking segment of the field,” he said.
“Those three or four occasions are really important access points when you are playing against a team as good as the Stormers, and that is where the lack of accuracy really frustrates me.”
Despite scoring two tries, it was the concession of two late penalties that proved the difference at the end.
“We needed to win to keep our destiny in our own hands, and now we go to Leinster knowing we have to win that, but also we need other results to be favourable to us, which we haven’t had too often this season.”
Wilkins was disappointed for the occasion, the fans, and the leaving players that his side could not “garnish the day with a win because that would have been really special for everyone involved”.
“Ultimately too many times we cost ourselves possession opportunities in that attacking section of the field,” he said. “When you do get a shot to fire, you have do so something with it, and that is where the lack of accuracy frustrates me.”
As a result Wilkins says a target for next season will be Connacht’s efficiency in scoring. “It is something we have to question. Looking at the analysis of our attack this year, we are a top eight team in terms of points scored and tries scored, so we are there as an attacking force, but we rely on having 120 carries plus every game in order to fire enough shots to get those points.
“The really good teams in this league and others are able to be more efficient. They generate those points and tries with less possession. We are at a point where we are getting points, but we need a volume of possession to do it.”
Now Connacht face Leinster in the weekend’s first fixture, and the aim is to win five points.
“Ultimately we are in that tight position because had we won one more game earlier in the season or got a couple more bonus points, we’d be a little further up the ladder, and a little more comfortable. We have to take responsibility for that, and as head coach, I take ultimate responsibility for that.”
