Connacht fall a long way short
PAT LAM’S SIDE set out at the start of this week to cause a shock against the league leaders. To do that, they would have needed to be ferocious in defence and clinical in attack.
They were neither.
Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO
Glasgow did the damage before half-time, consistently raiding through gaps left around the fringes. Once a Gregor Townsend player is running in open field, they rarely lack the skills to find the pass needed to the supporting runner.
Dan McFarland’s set-pieces were faring well throughout, but time and again Connacht’s phaseplay let them down with ball after ball hitting either the turf or the wrong ball-carrying option.
Murphy’s law
Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the Westerners today. Rather than take hold of a vital win that would breathe new life in to their push for Champions Cup qualification, they slumped to a fifth straight defeat without so much as a losing bonus point as consolation.
Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO
The loss was compounded by news from Cardiff late in the afternoon: Scarlets, who started the day level on points with the western province, scored four tries in a 10 -29 win over the Dragons. Suddenly, the team sneaking up behind Connacht have a full five point-breathing space.
Scarlets will hope to close out the season in sixth with games against Cardiff and Treviso to come. Connacht can get back in the hunt against Zebre next time out, but finishing up against Ospreys will always be a tough fixture to go looking for points from.
Welcome back, Donnacha Ryan!
Munster almost managed to beat Treviso in their sleep in Cork today. The tally of four tries to three says enough about positives and negatives of the game itself, but in the pack there was a real boost to the province and indeed the country.
Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO
After a nightmare year with a toe injury, Donnacha Ryan started a game. A blood sub and a late replacement limited him to just over an hour, but in that period, the Tipp man was effective around the park and a valuable experienced head at set-piece.
After so long out, fitness is still an issue. Just as we seen with Chris Henry, he will get better and sharper with every minute he plays. So hopefully Munster will get all four games available to them to give Ryan every chance to play his way into Joe Schmidt’s summer plans.
Judgement day works
The Welsh Rugby Union recorded an attendance of 52,762 in the Millennium Stadium, a new Pro12 record. While such figures should always be taken with a chunk of salt, by all accounts the much-trumpeted ‘Judgment day III’ was a successful venture.