Following Connacht’s 38-30 win over Benetton in the United Rugby Championship (URC), here are our five key takeaways from the Dexcom Stadium.
The top line
Both teams would have felt this was a more than winnable game, so the opening quarter was always going to be pivotal, and in a bizarre twist of fate both teams actually got off to a bright start.
Connacht opened the scoring through youngster Finn Treacy, who crossed after just six minutes on the clock. His effort was swiftly followed by his side’s second score, as Shayne Bolton dotted down in the corner.
Benetton hit back quickly though. Tomas Albornoz got their comeback underway with a tidy penalty kick, and that was soon followed by a try from Ignacio Mendy after a delicious piece of play from the visitors’ backline.
The Italian winger turned from scorer to creator for their second try, as he scooped Albornoz’s clever kick to then offload to the on-chasing Andy Uren, who waltzed home for the score.
The Pumas ace extended his side’s lead minutes later with a successful penalty, before Marco Zanon leapt over out wide to grab his side’s third of the night. Albornoz was on-hand to complete the penalty sandwich too, as he knocked over his third three-pointer after 31 minutes.
With the game looking like it was about to get away from the hosts, Paul Boyle burrowed over from short-range to reduce the lead to eight.
This try seemingly brought Connacht back to life, and they made this foothold count thanks to Shamus Hurley-Langton – securing a crucial bonus-point in the process.
They were at it again as the clock struck 65, as Bolton added his second score of the evening out wide after a pinpoint pass from Josh Ioane.
Connacht had all the momentum in the contest now, and that allowed them to add the final nail in the coffin as Matthew Devine crossed to secure maximum points.
Joy to watch
The whole game was just a joy to watch right from the get-go.
Both teams, who as mentioned before probably felt this was a really winnable match in the build-up, just looked to play fast, free-flowing rugby from the off, and that intent brought the best out of each other.
With the respective positions of the teams in the table, Connacht 14th and Benetton 11th, it could have easily descended into a cagey, nervy slugathon, but both teams threw caution to the wind and looked to impose their flair on their opponents. They both just looked to try different things, and that invention is exactly what will see both sides climb the table.
Take Connacht’s first try and Benetton’s second – it was almost a case of ‘anything you can do I can do just as well’. In both tries, they looked to exploit the space that had appeared fairly early into the attack, which probably caught their opponents off-guard, and as a result they nabbed some delicious tries.
Playing on these 4G pitches always encourages rugby like this, with the conditions not much of a factor, but they both played their part in a really entertaining, attacking game.
Midfield battle
Neither side had their usual midfield pairing out on the pitch, with Benetton missing Italian internationals Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex and Connacht were without inspirational Bundee Aki, but their replacements were more than just position fillers and they both gave a really good account of themselves.
All four centres, Cathal Forde and Ireland hopeful Hugh Gavin for Connacht and the ever-classy Malakai Fekitoa and Zanon brought heaps of attacking skill to the party which in turn allowed both sides to just play that delicious brand of rugby we saw throughout.
But, aside from their offloading skills and deft hands to send others through holes, they also added some serious punch to get over the gainline, which again allowed their teams to go for it in attack.
They face tough battles against formidable Test players to be regular features in their teams, but they certainly all gave a good account of themselves today, and you feel Gavin has given his Ireland chances a major boost, especially with Garry Ringrose now out of contention.
Connacht play-off dream alive?
This win has given them an almighty boost, and they have certainly taken that next step to becoming serious play-off contenders. Inspired by the Ireland hopefuls Gavin and Bolton, Connacht have made it two wins on the spin and now move up into the coveted top eight. The level of performance, coupled with their recent purple patch, should now fill them with some serious confidence heading into these final stages of the season.
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Crucially, too, they are now also able to look up the table and set their sights on reaching even higher spots in the future. Connacht also have some fairly winnable games in their sights too, with Ospreys, Munster and Cardiff ahead in their next three games and should have a huge skip in their step.
Benetton not done yet
Whilst tonight might have ended in defeat, there were certainly plenty of green shoots that should fill them with belief heading into the final rounds of the season.
When they got their attack going, they looked right on the money, their scrum functioned exceptionally – as it has done for large parts of this season – and they fronted up in defence too. Momentum, and keeping it, proved to be an issue though but overall they were pretty solid.
Benetton will also feel they have some decent chances to climb the table in the coming weeks with Edinburgh, Cardiff and the Lions in their next three outings, and if they can fix that tiny issue from tonight they could be onto a real winner.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/connacht-v-benetton-five-takeaways-as-ireland-hopeful-gives-six-nations-chance-major-boost-as-he-inspires-hosts-to-take-the-next-step-towards-play-offs
