Parker Pen Cup Second round, first Leg/Connacht 29 Pau 7: The French do not land well in the west of Ireland. Like Beziers before them, the Pau players took one look around the wintry heights of the Sportsground on Saturday and sighed. It was going to be one of those old-fashioned, hard-hitting Irish afternoons.
So it proved. Pau were flash for the first seven minutes and Connacht owned the following 80. Mick Bradley's side, operating under his ambitious, smooth running rotation policy, scarcely made a mistake as they built up a 22-point lead to bring to France next weekend.
The selection of Dave Hewitt instead of Eric Elwood, the early retirement of the ferocious Bernard Jackman, the 60th-minute departure of the rampaging John O'Sullivan; none of it made a difference. Bradley filled the gaps and the machine rolled on.
"Yeah, very happy with that," conceded a low-key Bradley later on. "In fairness, we knew they were missing four or five key players and we were conscious that we needed to try and build up a bit of a score because their record at home is flawless."
Those who showed up hoping to witness the grace and power of French international number eight Imanol Harinorodoquy were disappointed. The arch destroyer of Ireland's World Cup effort was absent, as indeed were all of Pau's brightest lights.
No Phillippe Carbonneau, no Garrick Morgan, not even Wales' Arwell Thomas and if Damien Traille was indeed on the bench, there he remained. Any chance the French were treating the western province lightly? "Maybe," replied Bradley. "Though to be fair to them they were applying for entry permits all week so I think they were hit with a bit of a crisis."
Whether Pau will respond to this hammering by fielding their strongest team or whether they will just throw in the towel and busy themselves with domestic affairs remains a mystery.
"You wouldn't know," smiled number eight John O'Sullivan. "Either way, it is good to be going over there with a bit of a lead."
After seven minutes, it looked like the French were going to run riot. The visiting pack bossed the early exchanges and David Aucagne conducted a series of lightning back-row moves with full back Peyras and Jean Charles Cistacq relishing the open play. It was Rida Joauher who glided over after six minutes but the French looked as if they had the imagination to open the Connacht defence as they pleased.
Thereafter, Connacht settled down and obeyed the guiding principles that serve them so well; patience, discipline and most of all unstinting work. Hewitt had the composure to land two difficult penalties and he and Matt Mostyn found touch all afternoon.
The Connacht pack was magnificent and as the ground was equipped with its trademark swirling breeze, the pack amassed the points. The first try was a joy, with lanky lock Mick McCarthy cantering across Pau's 22-metre line before rounding the white wall only to be dragged down yards from his reward. Mike Walls switched the ball quickly and a lovely touch pass from Jackman put Mike Swift through in the opposite corner after 23 minutes.
From there, Connacht slipped into cruise control. Big Tom Carter pilfered a French lineout on 32 minutes and set in motion a sustained maul which ended with Dan McFarland touching down in the same corner as Swift.
Up 16-7 at the break, Connacht grew more accomplished as they played into a minor gale while the French became disheartened. Three times scrumhalf Nicolas Cubannes put the ball in crooked while the lineout pitches were also frequently errant. Bruno Bordenave was sin-binned after 48 minutes for tripping Walls and 10 minutes later O'Sullivan, again brave and devastating, tore into open country for Connacht's third try.
The last score was the prettiest; replacement scrumhalf Conor O'Loughlin made a stunning break from the base of a scrum on his own 10-metres line and flicked a perfect pass for Mostyn to ignite the fireworks.
"That last try was important," noted Bradley. "Because maybe we were guilty of over-using the pack a bit up to that point and the boys were ferociously tired out there."
Pau came hunting for the consolation try and came close with replacement back Jean Marc Souverbie hurtling through the exhausted Connacht ranks to bring his team within yards. The French shoved and probed but always Connacht found a willing body, with Elwood at hand to offer counsel over the last frenetic minutes.
Eventually Roy Maybank whistled the close. Connacht were pleased but not exultant. Pau's home patch has been a graveyard for all-comers this season.
CONNACHT: M Moystn; C McPhillips, D Yapp, T Allnutt, W Munn; D Hewitt, M Walls; D McFarland, B Jackman, A Clarke, A Farley, M Swift, M McCarthy, T Carter, J O'Sullivan. Replacements: J Fogarty for Jackman (inj., 33 mins), M Lacey for Carter (61 mins), C O'Loughlin for Walls (63 mins), M Carroll for O'Sullivan (72 mins).
PAU: JB Peyras; R Jaouher, J Cistacq, R Cabannen, P-A Negre Gauthier; D Aucagne, N Cabannes; D Laperne, M Tincu, Y Lacrouts; L Faure, F Galardi; L Souverbie, B Bordenave, A Mockford. Replacements: R McDonald for Jaouher (40 mins), R Terrain for Galardi (59 mins), E Ariguste for Cistacq (71 mins), L Petrac for Laperne (72 mins); JM Souverbie for Peyras (72 mins).
Referee: R Maybank.
