Connacht Book Play-Off Berth Despite Late Defeat In Italy

A cracking last-minute penalty from Benetton Treviso’s Jayden Hayward denied Connacht in Italy tonight, but the losing bonus point in the 22-21 defeat was enough to secure a prized GUINNESS PRO12 semi-final berth for Pat Lam’s men.

Peter Robb’s second half try – his first ever score for the province – and John Cooney’s boot looked to have ensured Connacht kept pace in their quest for a home semi-final, but Jayden Hayward banged over his penalty from almost 50 metres to claim Treviso’s first win over Irish opposition since 2013

Pat Lam’s charges looked untroubled as they racked up two tries inside 15 minutes through Fionn Carr and Robb’s centre partner Rory Parata, but the Italians struck back with two first half touchdowns of their own, through number 8 Abraham Steyn and Luca Morisi, to cut the westerners’ lead to 14-12 going into the break.

And it was Marius Goosen’s side who scored first after half-time, their dominant front row milking a penalty try from a close-in scrum that Hayward converted. 

Connacht go into next week’s critical final round clash with Glasgow Warriors knowing only a win will secure a home semi-final. Lam admitted afterwards that they ‘weren’t clinical enough’ and ‘blew so many chances’, although the losing bonus point has at least guaranteed the province their first ever semi-final appearance. 

It was a frenetic start in Treviso, both teams looking to run the ball from all corners of the pitch in almost perfect conditions for expansive rugby.

Bottom side Treviso were playing with real positivity, but their inaccuracy cost them after six minutes when they were penalised for coming in from the side in sight of the Connacht try-line.

Their sloppiness at the breakdown handed the visitors a perfect attacking platform as Jack Carty put them in the corner and after two minutes of sustained pressure, they found the breakthrough.

Cooney picked out Jake Heenan close to the ruck, the flanker’s instinctive give and take putting Parata in under the posts. Scrum half Cooney knocked over the simple conversion for a 7-0 lead after 11 minutes.

Carr’s length-of-the-field break almost immediately led to a second Connacht score, but the winger did not have to wait long to cross – latching onto a perfectly weighted Carty grubber and dotting down. Cooney converted.

It looked ominous for the Italians, but Morisi hit back with a try midway through the half after picking a sharp supporting line – but Hayward was off target with the kick.

Steyn then showed all his strength to bring Treviso right into the match, a huge fend on Tiernan O’Halloran left him in space and he then powered over for his side’s second try in the space of five minutes.

Full-back Hayward shook off his earlier miss to bang over a touchline conversion to leave the sides poised at 14-12 at half-time.

Treviso had been beginning to turn the screw at scrum time as the first half wore on and they made that advantage count five minutes after the restart, bludgeoning Connacht into submission and forcing a penalty try which Hayward converted to make it 19-14.

Connacht could not be shackled for too long and despite consistently getting bettered at set piece, the province’s free-flowing approach eventually paid off.

A 40-metre break from fit-again full-back O’Halloran put Connacht deep into Treviso territory and they swept across the field in a lovely team move before working the blindside to perfection, allowing Academy talent Robb to finish well in the corner. Cooney’s conversion did not look the prettiest, but it sneaked over to restore their lead at 21-19.

It was a scrappy second period and though the likes of Carr continued to threaten from deep, Treviso defended stoically throughout and when they won another scrum penalty late on, Hayward showed nerves of steel to send the Italians into euphoria.

“Bitterly disappointed,” said Lam in his post-match interview. “We acknowledge we are through to the semi-finals, but the number one thing is our performance and we will take a lot of learnings and will be determined when we get back to have a good week heading into a massive game against Glasgow.”