Connacht ... 40 Munster ... 33: At times, the format and the comings and goings from the touchline made this encounter a tad farcical, even by pre-season friendly standards. Unsurprisingly, though, it confirmed that Connacht have been the least affected by national distractions and are in better shape for the onset of the Celtic League next weekend. Gerry Thornley reports
Whereas Connacht have scalped Leinster and Ulster in the Sportsground in recent times, Munster have remained a persistent bugbear, with wins over them as rare as sun-kissed days at the venue. This was both, and though not a competitive fixture, as Steph Nel said afterwards: "Hopefully the ghost is laid. Everybody wants to finish the pre-season on a high and it helps to get a win."
In truth, they were far nearer full-strength, looked much more cohesive, and wouldn't have been flattered by a bigger winning margin after scoring seven tries to five. They also looked more motivated and the format of the match, two 30-minute periods sandwiching one of 40, suited them better. The one blemish was an ankle injury to Gavin Duffy which Nel admitted "doesn't look good".
Connacht, missing only Damien Browne, picked three teams. Munster, missing up to 22 players, somehow contrived to field 35 players. By the end they were using players who Alan Gaffney admitted he'd never met before.
One of these was Clinton Huppert, a 25-year-old winger-cum-full back from Wellington, signed for two years in light of injuries to Anthony Horgan and John O'Neill. Having landed from New Zealand the day before, he couldn't be judged on this outing.
The post-match countenance of the respective coaches reflected what had gone before. "You could see our organisation pay off," said a contented Nel. "There was more controlled attacking. The scrum was very good for the first 20 minutes but what really pleased me was the controlled attacking, and we didn't lose our counter-attacking ability."
Connacht were at their best in the meat of the match when the introduction of influential hooker Marnus Uijs, Rowen Frost, Johnny O'Connor, Chris Keane and Eric Elwood gave them impetus. Munster were almost blown away by a high quality three-try salvo in 10 minutes which turned a 13-14 Connacht deficit into 30-14 lead.
Munster did finally manage to manufacture well created scores from deep through John Lacey and Clem Casey, but a disappointed Gaffney had far more negatives to muse over.
"We've got to work on our ball retention. We can't just throw the ball away randomly or kick it away. There were some good points. There were parts of the first 30 that were good, but our support play wasn't good, we've got to work harder to build phases and our defence wasn't as strong as it should have been."
All that said, Gaffney admitted that "the return of the professionals on Monday will give everybody a lift. We've got to play Llanelli in Stradey Park next Saturday, which is a challenge up front taking on one of the favourites for the Celtic League, but that could be a blessing."
Scoring sequence: 16 mins Norton try 5-0; 23 Malone try, Staunton con 5-7; 28 Moore pen 8-7; 34 Munn try 13-7; 56 O'Riordan try, Staunton con 13-14; 59 Robinson try 18-14; 64 Yapp try, Elwood con 25-14; 68 Elwood try 30-14; 75 Lacey try, Keane con 30-21; 80 Casey try 30-26; 83 Reddan try 35-26; 92 McHugh try 40-26; 97 Browne try, Keane con 40-33.
CONNACHT (team 1): G Duffy; J Norton, D O'Sullivan, M McPhail, W Munn; S Moore, M Walls; D McFarland, M Uijs, P Bracken, A Maher, C Rigney, M Swift, J O'Sullivan, P Neville. Sinbinned: J O'Sullivan (22-32 mins). CONNACHT (team 2): Duffy; Robinson, D Yapp, T Allnutt, Munn; E Elwood, C Keane; R McCormack, Uijs, Bracken, Swift, R Frost, J O'Sullivan, E Peters, J O'Connor. Replacements: D O'Sullivan for Munn (41 mins), Norton for Duffy (57 mins), P Neville for J O'Sullivan (65 mins). CONNACHT (team 3): J Meagher; Norton, McPhail, Moore, O Grennan; M McHugh, E Reddan; F Boiroux, H Bourke, W Maxwell, Maher, Swift, J Muldoon, Rigney, Neville.
MUNSTER: J Lacey; C Huppert, M Lawlor, J Holland, K O'Riordan; J Staunton, D Malone; P Brennan, J Fogarty, W O'Kelly, M Galwey, D O'Callaghan, E Halvey, J Williams (capt), C McMahon. Replacements: James Cullinane for Brennan (41 mins), J Blaney for Fogarty, M Prendergast for Malone, C Mahony for Huppert (all 53 mins), T Hogan for Galwey, D Bowles for Halvey (both 61 mins), K Keane for Lawlor (70 mins), F Roche for O'Kelly, B Buckley for O'Callaghan, D Coppinger for Williams, D O'Riordan for K O'Riordan, C Casey for Lacey (all 76 mins), L Browne for Blaney, C Finn for Holland, D Quinlan for McMahon, T Ryan for Hogan, F Murphy for Prendergast, F Hogan for Staunton (all 85 mins).
Referee: O Trevor (IRFU).
