The sense of deja vu was uncanny. Two years ago Connacht had trailed all the way against Leinster before winning 24-23 when Simon Allnutt converted his own 85th minute try with the last kick of the game. Here at the Sportsground again on Saturday Pat Duignan's 83rd minute try sealed another unlikely win.
The personnel may change but the spirit stays the same. Connacht retained only five of the 22 who did duty that day, and Leinster half a dozen, but the suspicion lurked going into this game that deep down Connacht believed they could roll over Leinster again in a way they wouldn't have a week before against Munster. Just as pertinently perhaps, would Munster have let such a winning position slip the way Leinster did?
Connacht, after all, had lost 11 successive Guinness Interprovincials in the intervening two years. And after a tit-for-tat first half had left the score level at 1414 - both teams were full of positive running intentions in as good a 40-minute period this contest has thrown up in many years - the home side had taken a fair old pummelling for much of the second period.
Unable to finish off sustained drives due to slightly forced passes, Leinster had still monopolised possession with their well-drilled rucking and continuity much as they had done in the second half against Ulster.
With Connacht also under fierce pressure from the Leinster front row in the scrum and from Malcolm O'Kelly in the line-outs, again it looked as if this had to tell. But Connacht's resilience was outstanding, and having limited Leinster to shots at goal, they sensed a reprieve when Mark McHugh failed with a third secondhalf attempt at 20-14 in the 71st minute.
Even so, after Eric Elwood had narrowed the gap and both Dan McFarland and Victor Costello had been sinbinned for an off-the-ball scrap, it still seemed as if Leinster would close out the game as they recycled the ball continuingly in driving toward the Connacht 22 in injury time.
Whereupon Trevor Brennan was penalised for not releasing. Elwood tapped and went, Joe McVeigh making good ground up the left touchline. From the recycle, with his opposite number down injured, Elwood showed the ball and made a half-break up the middle at two Leinster forwards, offloading inside to Duignan who took a brilliant line in arcing away from halfway to score in the corner.
"I have never in my life coached a team that fought so hard to shake off the bad reviews and the bad mouthing," beamed Steph Nel afterwards. "These guys are so hungry. That hunger has cost twice in the interpro series but today it worked for us. They never gave up. Not for one second did they let their heads drop today."
Whatever way Connacht have juggled their reduced financial resources, the infusion of southern hemisphere and English blood such as Bryan Shelbourne, Marnus Uijs and now Rowen Frost, Shane Stephens and Wayne Munn has galvanised them.
With Elwood confidently calling the shots, Stephens showed some real potency here and Munn, the debutant strong-running, counter-attacking South African, has also served to rejuvenate Duignan - remember him? "I thought my backs were outstanding today," said Nel. "For the first time we came together and showed some real class, and we needed a bit of a strike force."
Also encouraging has been, the mobility, desire and handling skills of indigenous young talent such as Damien Browne, Colm Rigney and openside Johnny O'Connor - a real find.
This win was coming, though Nel felt sympathy for Matt Williams, who was understandably livid about it all. "That was beyond description. We dominated every phase of play, we dominated everything except for the referee," said the Leinster coach. In particular Williams criticised the repeated penalties against his backs for crossing whereas Connacht "played three moves behind their centres with no penalty." Nel countered that Leinster "were using blockers (whereas) we ran decoys", though Olan Trevor's interpretations looked inconsistent.
Williams also had a justifiable beef with a crunch late penalty against Girvan Dempsey for tackling Nigel Carolan, though he had clearly waited for the receiver to land, and perhaps too for the equalising first-half penalty against Brian O'Driscoll for playing the ball while seemingly on his feet.
As for the binning of McFarland - the abrasive English prop who had a run-in with Peter Clohessy the week before - and Costello, Williams sarcastically observed "that was terrible the way he (Costello) put his head in that man's knee."
In the heel of the hunt, Leinster still had enough of the game to have won long before Duignan's late sucker punch. Behind their rumbling pack Kevin Putt, while typically avoiding any physical contact where possible, called the shots impressively. Andy Dunne, the latest in a long line of late call-ups, especially at out-half, showed some touches of class despite little or no training sessions due to injury and exams, but was targetted defensivly and with some success by Connacht. Shane Horgan in the middle was missed, but Denis Hickie's cutting edge and pace even more so.
"You miss Shane Horgan and Denis Hickie, two fine, international players," agreed Williams, "but what we really miss is having a backline together and a team that's together for more than one session. Literally it's like coaching a third XV, just picking guys up on the Saturday. We haven't had two sessions in a row with the same backline."
Typical of their season, now Putt is doubtful for the European Cup opener in Edinburgh with a strained calf.
Scoring sequence: 3 mins: Elwood pen, 30; 6 mins: McHugh pen, 3-3; 10 mins: McHugh pen, 3-6; 18 mins: Browne try, 8-6; 25 mins: Elwood pen, 11-6; 28 mins: Dunne drop goal, 11-9; 33 mins: Cullen try, 11-14; 39 mins: Elwood pen, 14-14 (half-time). 54 mins: McHugh pen 14-17; 67 mins: McHugh pen, 14-20; 75 mins: Elwood pen, 17-20; 83 mins: Duignan try, 22-20.
CONNACHT: W Munn; P Duignan, S Stephens, T Allnutt, N Carolan; E Elwood, B Shelbourne; D McFarland, M Uijs, J Screene, R Frost, D Browne, J Charlie (capt), C Rigney, J O'Connor. Replacements: M Cahill for Screene (61 mins), M Smyth for Elwood (61-64 mins), Smyth for Stephens (64 mins), G Schoeman for Rigney (64 mins), J McVeigh for Uijs (71 mins). Sin-binned - J O'Connor (30-40 mins), D McFarland (77 mins).
LEINSTER: P McKenna; G D'Arcy, B O'Driscoll, M McHugh, G Dempsey; A Dunne, K Putt; R Corrigan, S Byrne, E Byrne, L Cullen, M O'Kelly, E Miller, V Costello, L Toland (capt). Replacements: G Halpin for E Byrne (52 mins), T Brennan for Miller, R Casey for Cullen, P Smyth for S Byrne (all 63 mins), B O'Meara for Putt (69 mins). Sin-binned - V Costello (77 mins).
Referee: O Trevor (IRFU).
