Irish blitz Aussie tourists again
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:30
Connacht produced a fine performance to complete their pre-season campaign with an encouraging 24-12 win over the touring Australian side, the Reds, at the Sportsground in Galway.
It is the Reds' second consecutive defeat, having lost 0-24 to a strong Ulster side in Belfast at the weekend.
Connacht were particularly impressive in the opening half of their encounter with the Reds, when they ran the ball with confidence and were well worth their 24-0 interval lead.
The Reds stepped up their challenge when they had the wind at their backs at a wet Sportsground in the second half, but Connacht defended stoutly until the final moments when they conceded two late tries.
The pace of the Connacht backline was noteworthy in the opening half and left wing Mike Roberts crossed for two tries either side of an effort from fullback Fionn Carr, who ran from just in front of his own posts after a bone-crunching John Muldoon tackle ended a promising Reds attack.
There was much to admire about this Connacht performance, although they will be far from happy with a messy finish - which resulted in tries from Reds scrumhalf Brendan McKibbin and No.8 Leroy Houston, the latter scoring when Connacht were reduced to 13 players after Colm Rigney and John Muldoon were yellow-carded for infringements in quick succession.
Despite the loss the Reds coaching staff were pleased with their team's second half effort.
The rousing display after the break and those two tries late in the game pointed the visitors in the right direction ahead of a meeting with Magners League champions Leinster on Saturday.
Speaking after the game, Reds coach Phil Mooney retained the levelheaded attitude he has had throughout the tour so far, when trying to sum up two very contrasting halves of rugby.
"It's all part of the reason we are over here on tour," said Mooney.
"Clearly in the first half some of our young guys tried to play football that wasn't suitable to the conditions and tactically we were naive.
"In the second half it was a lot more pleasing that we got a little more physical and basically I wouldn't say we won the second half - because that is a cop out- but we improved.
"The first half had a bit to do with circumstances, with us losing Ben Gollings before kick-off and young Jono Lance coming in and as I said, we were a bit naive and needed to be more direct and kick the corners a bit more.
"Basically we have competed a bit better with the footy in this game and especially in the second half, I was happy with how we didn't turn over as much ball as the last game."
Connacht's second try in the 20th minute was the turning point of a miserable first 40-minutes, with a tremendous passing move looking like it would be the catalyst to drag the Red's back into the game, only to be intercepted for a break away try.
The second period began nothing like the first, with the visitors much more physical and purposeful in possession, especially when wing Aidan Toua and centres Anthony Faingaa and Morgan Turinui combined.
"I think that we finished the game well and for some of the young guys I think we dropped our heads a little bit at the start, but showed good courage and composure in the second half once we made some changes," said Mooney.
"Whether they [Connacht] clocked off a little bit with the winds behind their backs I don't know, but I think it had more to do with our aggression slowing their play down in our favour.
"The lads did really well in the second half and showed the kind of heart that will do us good going into the next game."
Scorers:
Connacht:
Tries: Roberts 2, Carr
Cons: Keatley 3
Pens: Keatley
Reds:
Tries: McKibbin, Houston.
Con:
McKibbin
Yellow cards: Colm Rigney (Connacht), John Muldoon (Connacht)
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Fiann Carr, 14 Liam Bibo, 13 Gavin Duffy, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Mike Roberts, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Colm Rigney, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Andrew Farley, 4 Michael McCarthy, 3 Robbie Morris, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Conor Muldoon, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Michael Swift, 19 John O'Connor, 20 Kieran Campbell, 21 Aidan Wynne, 22 J Hearty.
Reds: 15 Rod Davies, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Morgan Turinui (captain), 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Aidan Toua, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Poutusi Luafutu, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Robert Simmons, 4 Van Humphries, 3 Jack Kennedy, 2 James Hanson, 1 Shon Seimonek.
Replacements: 16 Albert Anae, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Adam Byrnes, 19 Jake Schatz, 20
Will Genia, 21 Charlie Fetoai, 22 James Harvey.
Referee: P Fitzgibbon (IRFU)
