Connacht will renew their rivalry with English premiership outfit Northampton, having achieved their stated objective of advancing to the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
They did so with a comfortable victory over Dax at the Galway Sportsground, marking the occasion with a seven-try haul. It now sees them advance to their sixth quarter-finals since the competition began, and more importantly, since seedings were introduced, their first in three seasons.
Northampton, tough opponents at home where they remain unbeaten this season, came through their pool matches without a loss to grab the No 2 seeding behind London Irish. They are on their way back up following a stint in the first division last year after being relegated from the premiership for the first time in 12 years. Yet their pedigree is undisputed, having played in the Heineken Cup on seven occasions, and having won the trophy in the 1999/2000 season when they beat Munster 9-8 at Twickenham in the final.
Yet most Connacht fans will remember their jousts with Connacht in the early times of the Challenge Cup. Having lost to Northampton in the Sportsground in the 1996/7 season by 31-11, they turned around the following year, with Warren Gatland at the helm, stunning the Saints, coach Ian McGeechan, and captain Matt Dawson, with home and away victories. That 43-13 win at the Sportsground was the biggest Challenge Cup defeat Northampton have suffered in their history; the 20-15 win for Connacht at Franklin’s Gardens was the Irish province’s first quarter-final in Europe.
Times have since changed, but those victories should provide some measure of inspiration for today’s Connacht players as they prepare for that quarter-final meeting at Easter.
Last weekend with their front-line players back in action, Connacht wasted no time in beginning the try feast. With three in the first half, they were well on their way to gaining the bonus point which arrived 10 minutes into the second half, and coach Michael Bradley was sufficiently satisfied.
"Not the perfect performance by any means, but good enough to win the game. When we held onto the ball, we were very good. It was a big game for us and we wanted to keep the pressure on them for a full 80 minutes."
Despite Connacht's poor league results on the road, Bradley believes his side can be a match for anyone "on their day". "We certainly relish the opportunity to play Northampton," he said.
Connacht's confidence certainly soared against Dax. Centres Keith Matthews and Niva Ta'auso set up right wing Fionn Carr after just five minutes. Keatley, who tagged on two penalties, display some fancy footwork before combining with Ta'auso and Carr who sent the influential Gavin Duffy over for try No 2. Although Dax got on the scoreboard with a 32nd minute penalty, it was not long before Duffy sold the dummy and sent right wing Liam Bibo through for a half-time lead of 23 - 3.
Connacht maintained their workmanlike discipline in the second half and Carr, Ta'auso (2 ), and Sean Cronin all added to the tally, with replacement outhalf Andy Dunne converting three.
Yellow cards: Connacht, S Cronin (44m ); J Pendanx (49m )
Connacht: G Duffy, F Carr, N Ta'auso, K Matthews, L Bibo, I Keatley, F Murphy, B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris, A Browne, A Farley, M McCarthy, R Ofisa, J Muldoon (cpt ) Replacements, A Dunne for Keatley ( 48 ), T Nathan for Matthews (59m ), A Flavin for Cronin (64 ), R Loughney for Wilkinson (64m ), M Swift for Farley (64m ), K Campbell for Murphy (64m ), C Rigney for McCarthy ((64 ), B Wilkinson for Morris (73m ),
Dax: D Bortolussi, L Diaz, F Argel, FM Aramburu, B Hiriart, M Petitjean, JP Pezet, K Lealamanua (cpt ), J Jaen, N decmaps, A Mazel, JP Cros, B Adrillon, J Pendanx, J Bornman. Replacements, J Castex for Decamps (38m ), G Williams for Aramburu (57m ), J Brugnaut for Castex (67m ), N Nanuku for Petitjean (67m ), N Morlaes for Pezet (67m ).
Referee: N Patterson (Scotland ).
