URC: Connacht 23 Leinster 34
Not quite the cherry on top. Connacht gave it the big fight on their big night in front of a record 12,481 to mark the opening of their impressive new Clan Stand, but Leinster remained cool in the Galway furnace to ensure the old order remained intact.
The thunderous occasion inspired Connacht to probably their best performance of the season, Sean Jansen delivering a thunderous display with his ball carrying and tackling, with Cian Prendergast not far behind.
Stuart Lancaster’s decision to play the young props Billy Bohan and Sam Illo, eas well as centre Harry West, was vindicated and with Josh Ioane taking the ball to the line and the Cathal Forde-West midfield running hard, Connacht daringly took on the Leinster blitz.
But, trailing 20-27 in the third quarter, Leinster turned the screw with their superior kicking game, whereas Connacht conceded too much territory, and the visitors turned the scrum battle on its head. Luke McGrath upped the tempo and Leinster sniffed blood to register their 13th win in succession against their western rivals.
But this huge evening in the history of Connacht and Irish rugby did not come without an apparent cost. The thought occurred when Leinster’s team landed on Friday, and reoccurred at the game’s first scrum, as to why Jack Boyle was being risked on the 4G pitch a dozen days out from Six Nations opening night in Paris given both Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy are hors de combat.
In any event, Boyle stayed down after a 20th-minute scrum and after treatment he was taken off the pitch on a mobile stretcher with what looked a possibly serious lower leg injury.
A pre-match downpour passed by and though the ball and pitch were slippery, the crowd, including those in the Clan Terrace and at the front of the new Clan Stand, could enjoy the game all the more.
After the pre-match fireworks and moving video invoking the green shoots in the five counties and iconic faces from past and present, there was a sizeable contingent of Leinster fans when Mayo man Caelan Doris led out the visitors on his 100th cap.
But there was a thunderous roar, especially from the new Clan Stand, and chants of ‘Connacht’ when Prendergast led out the home side. He was followed by Illo, who also drew an early line in the sand with a big shot on Gus McCarthy.
Fans watch the action from the new Clan Stand at Dexcom Park. Photograph: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho
Their upwardly mobile young loosehead Bohan then won the game’s first scrum penalty against debutant Niall Smyth, but Connacht’s first two lineouts malfunctioned and McCarthy latched on to loose ball to break upfield.
Although the retreating Dylan Tierney-Martin cut out the danger, Prendergast was pinged at the resulting lineout when tugging James Ryan’s arm. Leinster kicked to the corner, launched Doris up the middle and then went into a tap penalty power play which culminated in Fintan Gunne scoring sharply and Harry Byrne converting.
Illo and Cathal Forde also departed for HIAs, which at least meant the introduction of crowd favourite Bundee Aki. While Leinster’s try deflated the partisan crowd, it was only for a second or two. Home team and supporters alike were enlivened by Shane Jennings coming in off his wing to tackle Doris from the restart and pinch a superb turnover before linking with Tierney-Martin.
From their penalty to the corner, the Connacht maul gained huge traction, with Aki, West and Jennings joining in. Though it collapsed, Connacht reassembled and went through their close-in power play before Tierney-Martin burrowed over, with Sam Gilbert converting.
After a third Connacht scrum penalty against Smyth, another big maul led to Aki and West each beating the first defenders off Ioane’s trademark passing on the gainline, and when Lowe didn’t roll away Gilbert nudged Connacht in front.
Illo and Forde returned simultaneously, but the former was pinged for scrumming at an angle for Byrne to land the first of two penalties. Whereupon Tierney-Martin snaffled loose ball off another restart and when the Connacht-bound Will Connors was pinged for being on the wrong side of a ruck, Gilbert drew the sides level from 40 metres.
Prendergast had spoken of how the Connacht home crowd respond as much to moments of western defiance as much as tries, and an example was provided by the roar which followed Jansen driving McCarthy back in the tackle.
Prendergast led the ravenous counter-ruck and two turnovers, all of which inspired two more big defensive sets and ensured the teams vanished under the new stand level at the interval and to loud acclaim for the men in green.
The second half sparked into vibrant life after RG Snyman’s offload bounced off Jerry Cahir’s head, whereas Jansen’s loopier offload found Ioane and then Forde trucked up scrum ball, bumping Byrne and bouncing to the ground.
Tempers flare between both sides at Dexcom Stadium. Photograph: Nick Elliott/Inpho
Although Paul Boyle was held up over the line, to loud groans, after a tap penalty play, Connacht were soon on the front foot again. Jansen rumbled again, and was then on the edge after deft link play by Darragh Murray allowed Ioane and West to outflank the Leinster blitz. Jansen beat two defenders and passed outside to Finn Treacy, whose infield ball found the supporting West to score a superb try.
As big a roar acclimated Prendergast’s penalty under the Connacht sticks after a mazy run by Gunne, who linked with Snyman, before Jansen dislodged the ball from Scott Penny in the tackle. The record Galway crowd reclaimed rightful ownership of the Fields of Athenry.
But Denis Buckley was pinged for going to ground at the ensuing scrum and after a great line by Charlie Tector off McGrath’s tap penalty, Snyman followed suit in crashing over Gilbert. Then off a lineout 40 metres out the increasingly influential Tector cut through Tierney-Martin and Jack Aungier to score both a fine solo try and a soft try, as well as securing the bonus point.
A Gilbert penalty made it a four-point game but James Lowe’s kick earned a five-metre scrum. Cue anther tap penalty power play before the Connacht-bound Ciarán Frawley, a match-winner here previously, scored on the blindside from Byrne’s handy work.
The latter maintained his unerring record off the tee and Leinster kept a deflated Connacht at bay for a 10th successive win. There was no disguising the home crowd’s disappointment but there was still palpable Connacht pride in the Galway air as the Clan Stand remained full to applaud their team off the pitch.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 8 mins: Gunne try, Byrne con, 0-7; 12: Tierney-Martin try, Gilbert con, 7-7; 23: Gilbert pen, 10-7; 27: Byrne pen, 10-10; 31: Byrne pen, 10-13; 33: Gilbert pen, 13-13; (half-time 13-13); 48: West try, Gilbert con, 20-13; 57: Snyman try, Byrne con, 20-20; 60: Tector try, Byrne con, 20-27; 67: Gilbert pen 23-27; 71: Frawley try, Byrne con, 23-34.
CONNACHT: Sam Gilbert; Shane Jennings, Harry West, Cathal Forde, Finn Treacy; Josh Ioane, Caolin Blade; Billy Bohan, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Sam Illo; Josh Murphy, Darragh Murray; Cian Prendergast (capt), Paul Boyle, Sean Jansen.
Replacements: Jack Aungier for Illo, Bundee Aki for Ford (both 9-20 mins); Denis Buckley for Bohan, Jack Aungier for Illo, Aki for West (all 49); Joe Joyce for Murray, Sean O’Brien for Boyle (61); Jack Carty for Ioane (63); Eoin de Buitlear for Tierney-Martin, Ben Murphy for Blade (both 73).
LEINSTER: Ciarán Frawley; Joshua Kenny, Garry Ringrose, Charlie Tector, James Lowe; Harry Byrne, Fintan Gunne; Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Niall Smyth; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Alex Soroka, Will Connors, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Jerry Cahir for Boyle (20 mins); Diarmuid Mangan for Soroka (45-55 and 62); Rónan Kelleher for McCarthy, Andrew Sparrow for Smyth, Scott Penny for Connors (all 49); Luke McGrath for Gunne (56); Brian Deeny for Snyman (73); Ruben Moloney for Kenny (78).
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU).