Connacht produced the necessary five-try bonus-point victory against visitors Dragons to Dexcom Stadium to propel them into the top eight of the BKT URC championship.
It was not the showpiece Connacht supporters might have expected against the lowly Welsh visitors, but in the end they delivered the required win to maintain their push up the table.
“We played some terrific stuff, but the game stalled,” said head coach Pete Wilkins. “ The breakdown was a big of a free-for-all and it was hard to string phases together, but our kicking game let us down as well. We probably gave up possession too early - I thought we were feeding them. But we got the intercept try which rounded it off nicely.”
Connacht had led at the break 19-0 at the break, having opened their scoring tally within six minutes. Taking advantage of a scrum penalty with a kick for touch, the home side attacked the line efficiently before No 8 Paul Boyle secured the touchdown, with Cathal Forde, taking over the kicking duties, he adding the extras for a 7-0 lead.
The visitors enjoyed some territorial control - in the main from Connacht mistakes - but their attack was blunt in the face of Connachts’ defence and the home side was able to take advantage.
From a superb attack which started inside they own half, Piers O’Connor delivered run from deep. Shayne Bolton and Caolin Blade ensured Connacht were attacking in the right area, while Joe Joyce, Cathal Forde and Bundee Aki added impetus before supplying Blade who crossed for the second try - and his 49th - on 20 minutes, with Forde adding the extras.
The Dragons enjoyed their share of territorial control, but Joyce was a instrument figure in blunting their efforts to score. However, Connacht struggled with turn possession into scores, spurned another golden opportunity when Dylan Tierney Martin’s kick ahead was foiled by the upright.
Possession remained with the home side, but they lacked the cutting edge, while playing too much between the 22s. However, they did contrive another score before the break - with Forde sending a penalty to touch. Cian Prendergast was instrumental in the line-out, Blade was impressive in support, and with help from Aki and Joe Joyce, Prendergast finished with the third try to give the home side a 19-0 half-time lead.
Scoreless going into the second half, the visitors took control initially, a series of successive drives to the line wining a penalty under the posts. Wainwright, as always, was instrumental in their attacking efforts, Shane Lewis-Hughes added some momentum before winning a penalty, but Aki eventually stymied the Dragons’ fire, turning over possession to relieve the pressure.
However, it was a poor second half with few attacking variations from the visitors, while Connacht simply seemed content to soak up the pressure from a Dragons’ side that lacked the necessary attacking edge.
It did not make for showpiece rugby, and although Connacht needed a bonus point try, they struggled to gain momentum in what was a poor second half.
With seven minutes remaining, Wilkins’ men finally delivered. It came from a home line-out, but it was replacement outhalf Matthew Devine’s footwork and pace that created the try, with Forde in support to finish, also adding the conversion. It put some gloss on a challenging night in Dexcom.
Scoring sequence: 5m Boyle try, Forde con 7-0; 19m Blade try, Forde con 14-0; 38m Prendergast try 19-0. HT 19-0. 73m Forde try and conversion 26-0; 77m Basham try, O’Brien con 26-7, 80m Devine try, Forde con 31-7.
Connacht: P O’Conor, S Bolton, C Forde, B Aki, S Cordero, J Ioane, C Blade, P Dooley, D Tierney-Martin, F Bealham, J Joyce, N Murray, C Prendergast (C ), S O’Brien, P Boyle. Replacements: H Gavin for Bolton (20m ), E Buitlear for Tierney-Martin, D Buckley for Dooley, J Aungier for Bealham, S Jansen for O’Brien, M Devine for Blade (all 50m ), B Ralston for Gavin (59 ), D Murray for Joyce (67m )
Dragons RFC: C Evans, R Dyer, J Westwood, A Owen, E Rosser, A O’Brien, D Blacker, C Jones, O Burrows, C Coleman, B Carter (C ), M Screech, S Lewis-Hughes, H Keddie, A Wainwright
Replacements: A Seiuli for Jones and R Williams for Blacker (both 41m ), B Coghlan for Burrows (52m ), L Yendle, S Cummins for Screech (65m ), T Basham, R Williams for Westwood (65m ), L Evans, H Wilson.
Referee: Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR ).
