Connacht Battle Back To Claim Losing Bonus Point

Connacht lost their grip on an eight-point lead as they went down 29-23 to Leicester Tigers in an entertaining Heineken Champions Cup clash at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

Despite tries from John Porch and talismanic captain Jack Carty, who also added 13 points from the tee, it was Leicester who secured a bonus point victory.

Andy Friend’s men led 20-12 early in the second half, however Finlay Bealham’s sin-binning proved very costly. In the end, a last-gasp drop goal from Carty saw them come away with a bonus point.

Speaking in the aftermath, there were mixed emotions for head coach Friend who said: “We managed to get that (bonus point) but we didn’t come here to get a losing bonus point, we came here to win.

“The win was out of our reach when we went to that last lineout but to get the losing bonus point was a compliment to the team and to Jack Carty for having the ability and wherewithal to get the ball over the posts.

“We will take it, but not what we came here for. The scrum was the key but also to me it could have been a different if we executed some of the opportunities we created.

“Now, we didn’t, and we have to get better at that. But when you are only eight points up and there are 25 minutes to go at Welford Road the one thing you can’t be giving them is territory, yellow cards because that hurts you and that’s the penalty we paid.

“On reflection to get six points from our opening two (Champions Cup) games is not a bad outcome. It’s not what we wanted, we wanted more but it sets us up and we are in an okay position.”

Connacht employed a clever kicking game early on and this yielded a score when Carty expertly slotted a long-range penalty over after Tigers were penalised for offside.

The westerners’ attack was troubling the unbeaten Gallagher Premiership leaders and they conceded a raft of penalties which brought Connacht lineouts in advanced attacking areas.

Nonetheless, strong defending from Leicester held the province at bay, despite some powerful rolling mauls close to the try-line in what proved to be a lively opening 15 minutes.

The visitors were in the ascendancy for the majority of the opening quarter, but Leicester – during their first attack of note – managed to break the try deadlock.

Hooker Nic Dolly diving low in at the corner for an unconverted 17th-minute try, with skipper Ben Youngs doing the damage with a fine pass after Connacht had defended the initial maul.

One try soon became two in what was a profitable five-minute spell from Tigers. Connacht repelled the forward pressure, but with Carty slipping in midfield, some crisp passing played in Bryce Hegarty.

Freddie Burns’ conversion made it 12-3, only for Connacht to respond brilliantly and they had their first try just two minutes after conceding the full-back’s well-worked score.

A sweeping move saw the ball worked wide to Porch from Bundee Aki’s sumptuous offload. The Australian then showed searing pace to burst through a gap and touch down right beside the posts.

The conversion was a formality from Carty, suddenly reducing the arrears to just two points. Proactive in defence and eager to blitz, Connacht were looking to force errors from the home side.

Running aggressively together, the province’s defence made Leicester cough up possession and Carty – intelligently anticipating a spill – picked up the loose ball and ran in unopposed for a timely try, just before the break.

The Roscommon man converted it himself, moving Connacht back in front at 17-12. 21-year-old flanker Cian Prendergast was the pick of their forwards, showing his athleticism on both sides of the ball.

Connacht began the second half in the same manner that they had ended the first, duly extending their lead out to eight points.

After an attacking move was ended by a deliberate knock-on, Carty expertly struck a long-range penalty between the posts to maintain his unerring place-kicking forms.

Leicester began to turn the screw nearing the hour mark and their pressure, which Connacht stood up to manfully, eventually paid dividends when prop Bealham was yellow carded after a third scrum infringement.

Attacking against 14 men, it did not take Tigers long to take advantage. Their reinforced scrum provided the platform and Freddie Steward soon powered over for a converted try, cutting the gap to a single point.

Another try followed in the 62nd minute when Hosea Saumaki, invited into space by Hegarty’s pass, showed his pace to evade both Sam Arnold and Aki and score to the right of the posts.

Hegarty added the extras for a 26-20 scoreline, and the same player fired home a penalty from over 40 metres out to leave Connacht nine points behind with 10 minutes remaining.

Friend’s charges kept plugging away, though, and their resilience paid off when – with the last kick – Carty’s drop goal from the edge of the 22 saw them take a point back home to Galway.