MAGNERS LEAGUE: BY THE time he arrived after the match Eric Elwood had moved beyond disappointment, walked clear of annoyance, travelled past irritability and fury and had nestled into the arms of sarcasm. His team had just been blown away after an inventive but barren start to the match, and now his job was to turn them around for another match in fives days.
“Yeah, a nice little number on Thursday,” said the Connacht coach. “Our third game in 11 days. We’ll probably get the boat over, whatever . . . it’s a bit ridiculous. I’m getting a bit fed up at this stage trying to make excuses, but three games in 11 days for the weakest squad in the league with the smallest resources.
“It’s difficult,” added Elwood. “Listen, I’m getting fed up preaching this all the time. It’s easy dragging us across the water. Why don’t they have a derby game if they want a live game in Wales? Why do they have to drag us across all the time after two derby matches?
“In fairness, I have spoken to the union and they’ve been over and back and spoken to Magners. They’ve been very supportive, but it’s just difficult, just easy to drag us across. Third game in 11 days. Our guys will be ready on Thursday night and they’ll give it 100 per cent.”
Not only are Connacht being wedged into a schedule not of their making but are doing so with a few wheels missing from the wagon. Elwood’s number eight, Eoin McKeon, is still a teenager. He had another 19-year-old on the bench after a spate of injuries.
“We have no loose forwards left,” said Elwood. “We are devastated with injuries. We’d Eoin McKeon playing at eight. We’d another 19-year-old sat on the bench and we’re very stretched. We’re very stretched with props. We’re very stretched with loose forwards. Unfortunately that’s the hand we’re dealt with. We just have to work with it.”
Joe Schmidt also had young players hoping to make more permanent claims on shirts. But the Leinster coach has a different dynamic to work with. Still in the Heineken Cup and now up with the pacesetters in the Magners League, he saw both good and bad in the bonus-point win.
“I thought we grew into the game but it took a long time to grow,” he said. “The first 20 minutes they put the pressure on us. I think we’d two possessions we coughed up to them. One was a penalty that they got early in the game, so it was pretty frustrating to watch that first 20 minutes.
“Some of the tries I thought were top drawer. There was some really good handling leading up to Dave Kearney’s two tries and Fergus (McFadden) took his well. We created some good space for Niall Morris to finish off his try as well. It’s great to see the 20-, 21-year-olds get over the line.”
Captain Shane Jennings cut an altogether more sombre figure, despite having just won the man-of-the-match award. “When we had it we didn’t control the ball at all, and we put ourselves under pressure by not finding touch,” said Jennings. “They were very good at the breakdown. We had clear instructions from the referee and we didn’t deal with it properly and we put ourselves under pressure. As I say, when you put yourself under pressure Connacht are very, very good. They were unfortunate not to get that score.
“Every game for us now is pretty big because we are trying to fight to get into the top four positions. Ospreys did a job on us over there a few weeks ago. They’re a very good team, very good squad. We’re delighted with the win, but we have to keep the ball rolling, get momentum.”
Elwood’s reflections, however, were about missed chances. “I said to the boys inside that you can’t fault the effort, you can’t fault the commitment,” said the coach. “Obviously the game is about creating opportunities and chances and taking them. We didn’t take ours in the first 20 minutes. We’d a couple in the second half, didn’t take them and Leinster went up and took their chances.”
