CHALLENGE CUP: London Irish 75 Connacht 5 Attendance 8,000SOMETIMES THE end can justify the means, and come Friday, if Connacht qualify for the quarter-finals in Europe for the first time in two years, Michael Bradley's men will have achieved something tangible from their campaign.
A win over French side Dax at the Galway Sportsground in the final pool fixture is the object of the exercise, says coach Bradley.
However few would have hoped it would be achieved by having to leak 75 points to London Irish on Saturday – the highest losing margin in Connacht’s European history – with a side lacking match practice at this level.
It was always going to be a risk to rest the front-line players against the Premiership leaders, and although a defeat was acceptable and expected at the Madejski Stadium, which boasted a crowd of more than 8,000, the magnitude of the loss was not.
“We do not accept a scoreline of 75-5. Obviously it is very disappointing for those who travelled and ourselves. It doesn’t matter which 15 you put on the park, you should not lose by that score.
“We have to take the pain and hopefully we will put Dax away next week which is the purpose of the exercise,” said Bradley.
“We knew London Irish were going to be strong and put out their strongest side and we had a couple of objectives – to get championship points of any description, by bonus point, or by winning, which was less likely. We also needed to get tries because they do count if teams finish on the same points, and that was our strategy for not kicking at goal. I think we had six or seven opportunities and were over the line a couple of times. We did score a fortuitous try, so that was the positive.”
It was the only one as London Irish continued their march towards a title double this season. With 12 starting internationals, led by Bob Casey, their power and pace was too strong for Connacht. London Irish coach Toby Booth said Casey was making his statement for inclusion on the Irish team. “The game was very important for Bob. He always rises to the occasion, particularly against Irish opposition because he has a point to prove and it was for that reason he came over here.”
Casey was just one talisman in a line-up that exuded confidence, posting the first of 11 tries as early as the fourth minute. Connacht’s makeshift side could not keep pace with the home team as they lacked the cohesion that comes from regular playing time.
Fullback Danny Riordan, who scored Connacht’s only try midway through the opening half, was starting his first match of the season at 15, having made just three appearances all season on the wing – the last time in October.
Ditto John Hearty who had made just two starts in the centre, alongside veteran Mel Deane who had the last of his four starts in October. Andy Dunne, Kieran Campbell, and prop Ronan Loughney shared six between them, while Andrew Browne made a good fist of playing for the first time in the back row, alongside David Gannon who had his first taste on the openside against Rovigo in early December.
They were not helped by difficulties in the set piece, particularly the scrum, which propelled Irish’s try-scoring feast – the first from a penalty to touch before influential No 8 Chris Hala’ufia sent openside Steffon Armitage through.
Four minutes later with the scrum in retreat, Connacht turned over ball and gifted lock James Hudson with number two, and fullback Peter Hewat grabbed the first of his five-try haul when Connacht conceded another penalty in the scrummage.
There were brief moments of respite for the westerners. Mike Rcberts, having overcome injury to make a rare start, looked eager, and along with Gannon tried to make an early impact. When Connacht opted to kick penalties to touch Rigney and Loughney were held up over the line, until Riordan grabbed the bounce from his own kick to post the province’s only try.
By half time in a one-sided 80 minutes London Irish had grabbed their bonus point and capitalised on Connacht mistakes to lead 33–5 at the break. Hewat grabbed another four, Topsy Ojo two, and Shane Geraghty struck all but one conversion before the end.
LONDON IRISH:P Hewat; T Ojo, S Mapusua, S Geraghty, J Bailey; M Catt, P Hodgson; C Dermody, D Paice, R Skuse; J Hudson, B Casey; R Thorpe, S Armitage, C Hala'ufia. Replacements: D Murphy for Dermody (ht), D Coetzee for Paice, D Danaher for Armitage, T Lea'aetoa for Skuse (all 47 mins), W Fury for Hodgson), G Johnson for Hudson, E Seveali'i for Catt ( all 53 mins).
CONNACHT: D Riordan; T Nathan, J Hearty, M Deane, M Roberts; A Dunne, K Campbell; J Lyne, A Flavin, R Loughney; M Swift, A Farley; A Browne, D Gannon, C Rigney. Replacements: C O'Loughlin for Campbell), M McCarthy for Farley (both 53 mins), B McGovern for Lyne (55 mins), J Merrigan for Loughne, J Muldoon for Rigney (both 62 mins), L Bibo for Hearty (65 mins).
Referee: A McPherson (Scotland).
