Connacht take a break from action this weekend after recording their fifth win on the trot at home.
However several of the Connacht senior players will be lining out at the Sportsground on Friday (2.30pm ) when the Connacht A team take on their Leinster counterparts in an interprovincial challenge.
Connacht A coach Nigel Carolan is hoping to name a strong starting XV to face a Leinster outfit that competes in the British & Irish Cup. It will also provide some of the Connacht fringe players with game time, in addition to giving an opportunity to some of Carolan’s academy prospects against quality opposition.
Connacht senior players will welcome the rest having surviving one of their toughest physical and mental challenges when, as favourites, they overcame Aironi last Friday.
It was with a great measure of relief the home side continued their fine sequence of victories at home against an Italian side that has still to grab a victory in this season’s Magners League.
Originally postponed from December due to the pre-Christmas weather, this fixture was still played out amid drifts of snow and sleet. However the visitors, boasting a big pack, made Connacht work for every point, but it was the TMO who played a crucial role in this fixture, allowing Connacht a 40th minute try, while denying the Italians after 65 minutes. Connacht outhalf Ian Keatley, who missed four kicks at goal, scored all of Connacht's points, while the visitors had to be content with two penalties. Boasting a secure line-out that provided Aironi with plenty of possession, they also put Connacht under pressure with their kicking game for long periods, but they overplayed that tactic and it was not until the final 10 minutes that they looked like scoring.
Connacht applied the early pressure, but the visitors proved difficult to break down and Keatley was unable to capitalise with a penalty attempt. Connacht, however, played most of the rugby, creating more scoring opportunities, particularly when they spread the ball through the hands. However it was No 8 Ray Ofisa whose work ethic at the breakdown paved the way for a second penalty attempt after 16 minutes after Aironi failed to deal with a loose ball in their own 22. Connacht took the opportunity to kick themselves in front through Keatley's 22 metre effort, but it was a wobbly start from the home side trying to record their fifth successive home match for the first time since 2005/06.
However Connacht's scrum was steady throughout, carving out a 34th minute penalty which Keatley again put wide, but they finished the half the stronger. Fionn Carr looked to have scored when he did well to control possession to race up the right wing, but his try was disallowed after Keatley's pass was judged forward. However three minutes later Connacht finally made the breakthrough, although it took the TMO, Irishman Jude Quinn, to make the final decision. Keatley once again attacked from inside the 22 and crawled across the line despite the best efforts of his counterpart Riccardo Bocchino. Although Keatley missed the conversion, it gave Connacht an 8 -0 half time edge, but it was not until the 51st minute that he was able to extend that lead to 11 - 0.
Thereafter Aironi grabbed the initiative for long periods and it took an immense defensive effort from Connacht, particularly at the breakdown, to deny the improving Italians. Midway through the second half, however, replacement winger Giulo Toniolatti made an immediate impression. Capitalising on a penalty to set up field position, Aironi opted to keep the ball in hand, and using their big forwards as battering rams, Toniolatti took the opportunity to barge through for what looked to a turning point in the game. It was - as the TMO judged the ball had been held up - by the hand of Niva Ta'auso and the leg of Frank Murphy.
Scrumhalf Tito Tebaldi potted a penalty from an earlier offence to put his side on the board after 66 minutes, and with a sniff of victory, the Italians continued to put all the pressure on the home side. Three more penalties followed, one of which Aironi opted to kick, with Tebaldi converting a 75th minute effort. Once again it set up a tense finish to a Sportsground fixture. Connacht survived but they have been warned as they prepare for the return visit to Parma next week.
Connacht: G Duffy, B Tuohy, N Ta'auso, T Nathan, F Carr, I Keatley, F Murphy, R Loughney, A Flavin, J Hagan, M Swift, M McCarthy, A Browne, J O'Connor (cpt ), R Ofisa. Replacements, R Ah You for Hagan and M Upton for McCarthy (69m ), K Matthews for Duffy (72m ).
Aironi: J Marshall, K Robertson, G Pavan, M Pratichetti, D Demas, R Bocchino, T Tebaldi, A De Marchi, R Santamaria, U Gamboa, J Furno, M Bortolami (cpt ), J Sole, G Krause, N Williams. Replacements, F Staibano for Gamboa 45m, G Toninlatti for Robertson 62m, G Pizzaro for Pavan (69m ).
Referee: James Jones (WRU ).
