A second half revival saw Connacht stop Benetton Rugby in their tracks in sunny Treviso and chalk up their first GUINNESS PRO14 away victory since last April.
With three tries apiece there was never much between the two sides, but a 69th-minute yellow card for Tomasso Iannone proved the catalyst for Connacht to win away at the eighth time of asking in the current PRO14 campaign.
Tito Tebaldi had given Benetton the lead late in the first half before Ireland prop Finlay Bealham – scoring his second try in four Championship outings – hit back just three minutes after the break.
Monty Ioane extended Benetton’s lead to 12-5 but man-of-the-match Jarrad Butler responded almost immediately for Connacht, with Jack Carty then kicking the penalty after Iannone’s yellow, and Eoin Griffin’s converted score meaning Marco Fuser’s effort, with the clock in the red, was only good enough for a losing bonus point.
After early Connacht pressure, the Italians worked their way back into the game and, but for a crucial tackle from Matt Healy in the 20th minute, Luca Sperandio would have gone in at the right corner for the opening score of the game.
The remainder was a half characterised by turnovers and stoppages for injuries, punctuated by a blitzing run from Ioane into the Connacht half. And after several phases of play, a Benetton lineout from the left set up a maul from which scrum half Tebaldi darted over from close range – suffering a knock to the leg in the process.
Tebaldi limped off after New Zealander Marty Banks kicked the conversion, the opening half ending with the home side seven points to the good. Kieran Keane’s half-time words worked a treat as Connacht were level inside the opening minutes of the second period.
Early pressure from the westerners set up a lineout drive that saw Bealham bundle over for the score, although Carty missed the right-sided conversion and the chance to level the scores with 35 minutes to play.
With the half looking to be heading the same way as the first, Banks put in a cross-field kick from his own half which Ioane collected to run 60 metres down the left touchline for a fine score. Out-half Banks missed the tough conversion on the hour mark.
That score sparked Connacht into life and a smart offload from Cian Kelleher to Butler set up their second try. The former Reds and Brumbies flanker used his pace and strength to drive home from just inside the Benetton 22, with Carty’s successful conversion making it 12-all to set up a tense final 15 minutes.
And with little over ten minutes left to play, the decisive moment came when Iannone dumped Tom Farrell in a tip tackle. After consulting with TMO Stefano Roscini, referee Lloyd Linton reached for his yellow card ensuring that Benetton played out the game with 14 men.
Carty nailed the resulting penalty to put Connacht ahead for the first time, and they ten struck for the match-winning try with less than seven minutes remaining. Injecting the necessary pace, Healy broke from the Benetton 10-metre line and provided quick ruck ball in the 22 for Caolin Blade to feed Griffin who did well to evade two tackles on the way to the whitewash. Carty knocked over the difficult conversion from wide of the right, giving his side a 10-point cushion.
Yet, Benetton still had time to claw back a bonus point as Marco Zanon did the initial damage with a run into the 22 and Fuser then evaded the grasp of both John Muldoon and Griffin to dive in beside the posts. Banks clipped over the conversion to bring the game to a close.
Although pleased to get back to winning ways, Connacht head coach Keane knows a repeat of this performance will not be enough when they visit the Toyota Cheetahs, who are currently two places and 11 points better off than the province in Conference A.
“Life goes on, we haven’t changed in our thinking. We have got to get better and set some higher standards. That’s the plan,” said Keane ahead of the trip to Bloemfontein for next Saturday’s clash with the leading South African side.
“We have been planning and preparing for this trip for about four weeks. There has been a lot of planning and preparation gone into this. I have been there a few times and what we have done should hold us in good stead because it’s a really hard place to win a game of rugby. And particularly in the Highveld too. That would be a little bit foreign to most of these guys.”
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