Connacht Rugby head to Italy under pressure to gain a victory over RaboDirect Pro 12 newcomers Zebre tomorrow evening (6. 05pm ).
After a disappointing 13- 9 opening day defeat to Cardiff Blues on Saturday at the Galway Sportsground, coach Eric Elwood admits Connacht have made it hard for themselves.
“ We obviously let ourselves down and have made it hard for ourselves,” he says. “The fact that we didn’t win a home game that we expected to has put us under pressure.”
Now Connacht face a new Italian franchise hosting their first Pro 12 fixture at home, and having lost their opener to the Dragons by 35 - 6, they too will want to make a statement in front of a new home crowd.
“It’s going to be challenging. In soccer parlance, it’s the proverbial six-pointer. We lost and they lost and now we are their first visitors.”
Elwood was surprised with the magnitude of Zebre’s opening loss and says it does not reflect their ability, particularly in attack.
“ I have watched their pre-season games against Northampton and Perpignan - two quality sides. In attack they were magnificent. Their offloads, ball skills, and continuity was very impressive, so we are in for a stiff challenge. Certainly Zebre will ask questions of our defence.”
Like the Dragons, Connacht will need to find the key to unlocking the Zebre defence, while also upping their ability to maintain possession, both in the set piece and at the breakdown.
Elwood still has injury concerns and is unlikely to make any changes to his starting XV. However it is hoped some players might be fit enough to make the bench, including scrumhalf Frank Murphy and prop Nathan White.
Zebre technical director Christian Gajan has made four changes with 21-year-old centre Alberto Benettin making his debut for injured team-mate Roberto Quartaroli, while emerging Italian scrumhalf Alberto Chillon wins his first start in place of Tito Tebaldi.
Veteran Italian flanker Mauro Bergamasco makes his first start for Zebre replacing Nicola Cattina, while former Italian international Josh Sole starts as lock.
Unlike the poor weather conditions last week, Connacht can expect a return to dry and warm conditions, which Elwood believes will be “more conducive to play more quality rugby and maintaining possession”.
“Our scrum was good and we showed good dominance, but we are going to have to make that dominance pay. However, we will need to improve our line-out, and have more control there as a launch pad for our backs. With the dry ball we should see more from our backs in attack, and also improve our kick chase game.”
Last weekend Connacht failed to capitalise on an abundance of possession, and a losing bonus point was no consolation as the Cardiff Blues, missing their internationals, opened their season under new coach Phil Davies with the victory.
”It was a missed opportunity for sure. I would have thought that what was at stake, with the ball we had and the opportunities we had, we should have made it pay and got the four points.
"When you look at the amount of possession we had in both halves - and in the first half we had something like 11 turnovers - and that was into the wind, but we just were not able to hold onto the ball in key areas."
Within the opening minutes Connacht's dominant scrum had earned them a succession of penalties, but they reaped nothing for their efforts. Outhalf Miah Nikora missed a 12th minute kick at goal and, despite a series of scrums which had the Blues back-pedalling, Connacht could not get over the line. When they did, it was to spill the ball.
Cardiff turned around immediately to kick three points through outhalf Ceri Sweeney - the first of all their 13 points that were posted in a 10 minute period. Sweeney's touchline kicking, aided by a disruptive line-out led by lock James Down, ensured Connacht found themselves pinned inside their own half.
After Sweeney added a second penalty, their debutant scrumhalf Lewis Jones pounced for the game's only try after the home side once again failed to secure line-out ball and clear their lines. It gave Cardiff a 13 - 0 lead at the break which did not look insurmountable given Connacht's set piece dominance.
With Connacht's line-out failing to function as effectively as normal, Nikora's second-half tactical kicking was limited to the up and under. And it started to reap rewards. Johnny O'Connor, Ethienne Reynecke, John Muldoon and Denis Buckley became increasingly involved in open play, while debutant scrumhalf Kieran Marmion was particularly assured behind the scrum. Within six minutes Nikora had struck the first of three penalties, striking his 40m effort in front of the posts to promise a better finish to this opening fixture. As Connacht continued to dominate possession and territory, Nikora closed the gap to just four points by the 66th minute with another two penalties. However in the final 10 minutes they could not penetrate a Cardiff side that, while organised in defence, was helped by Connacht's inability to hold onto possession.
Connacht: G Duffy; T O'Halloran, E Griffin, M Fifita, F Vainikolo; M Nikora, K Marmion; D Buckley, E Reynecke, R Loughney; M Swift, M McCarthy; J Muldoon, J O'Connor, G Naoupu. Replacements, W Faloon for O'Connor (51m ), D Gannon for McCarthy (54 ), R Ah You for Loughney, A Flavin for Reynecke, R Hensahw for Vainikolo and M Jarvis for Griffin (all 60m ).
Cardiff Blues: D Fish; H Robinson, G Evans, G Davies, T James; C Sweeney, L Jones; T Davies, A Kyriacou, T Filise; R Copeland, J Down; R Watts-Jones, J Navidi, A Pretorius. Replacements, L Reed for Copeland (47m ), B Bourrest for Davies (54m ), L Williams for Jones (67 ), L Hamilton for Watt-Jones (70, N Trevett for Filise (75 ).
Referee: A McMenemy (SRU ).
