O’Halloran Brace Not Enough For Connacht As Edinburgh Finish Strongly

It was a hard slog for Connacht at a wet and windy BT Murrayfield where they paid the price for 27 missed tackles and 14 turnovers in a 41-14 defeat to Conference B leaders Edinburgh.

Converted tries either side of half-time from Tiernan O’Halloran had the westerners only 20-14 down, but Edinburgh efficiently pulled clear thanks to seven-pointers from man-of-the-match Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe and a penalty try.

Discipline was an issue on a night when three Connacht players saw yellow – Jack Carty for a high tackle, Eoghan Masterson for scuffling and Conor Fitzgerald for a foot trip – and too many individual mistakes proved costly for the province.

With his side now seven points behind the third-placed Scarlets, Connacht head coach Andy Friend said: “We gave away control, there were a couple of crucial errors and it was one of those nights where the team that makes the most out of the other team’s errors is the team that is going to win – that was Edinburgh.

“We didn’t manage the game as well as we needed to. We started the second half well, we got back within six points but lost a crucial turnover down in the bottom corner and from the ensuing scrum, they scored and the game got away from us.

“We are chasing now, which won’t be sweet. We said this block of games during the Six Nations was really important. We got five points out of the first game, no points out of the Edinburgh game, so the next one (against the Southern Kings in South Africa) is crucial. We’re still alive.”

Winless against Scottish opposition since April 2017, Connacht suffered an early setback when prop Finlay Bealham had to be taken off with an ankle injury. Luke Crosbie’s penalty-winning efforts were rewarded with the opening score from Simon Hickey.

The assured Kiwi out-half landed a second long-range penalty towards the end of a stop-start first quarter, rewarding the home scrum. The difficult handling conditions played their part, resulting in a high number of knock-ons and stoppages.

Having messed up a gilt-edged lineout opportunity, Connacht fell further behind in the 23rd minute as they allowed centre Matt Scott to break from deep and reach out to seemingly score. A potential knock-on got TMO Stefano Penne involved and it was not good news for Friend’s men.

They suffered the double whammy of a penalty try and a harsh yellow card for Carty, who was adjudged to have caught Scott with a high tackle. Towards the end of the sin-bin period, Scotland prop Simon Berghan crashed over for Edinburgh’s second converted try, establishing a 20-0 lead.

It looked a long way back for Connacht against a team unbeaten at home this season. However, their decision to opt for a scrum from a late penalty paid off, some pick-and-drive efforts wearing the defence down before O’Halloran, with Paul Boyle on the latch, plunged over from a couple of metres out.

Carty converted to cut the gap to 20-7, and the Athlone native also added the extras to his full-back’s 47th-minute try. Shane Delahunt went close to scoring from his own charge-down before another bout of forwards pressure led to O’Halloran piling in under the posts following a strong carry by Boyle.

That was as good as it got for Connacht, though, as they were unable to maintain the momentum. The Edinburgh pack wrestled back control, with Bill Mata carrying well, and loosehead Schoeman put the head down to drive low and ground the ball at the right hand post for a key 57th-minute score.

Hickey converted and then scooped a long pass out to send winger van der Merwe over in the left corner for the bonus point try. Hickey topped up his own tally to 12 points before slipping as he took a penalty for his only miss of the game.

With the result now beyond doubt at 34-14, the contest disintegrated with a flurry of yellow cards issued by referee Marius Mitrea. Edinburgh winger Eroni Sau was binned for a tip tackle on Tom Daly, and the Fijian was joined on the touchline by Masterson and Edinburgh flanker Nick Haining following some off-the-ball niggle.

Both sides actually ended the match down to 13 men, as Connacht lost replacement out-half Fitzgerald for tripping Charlie Shiel with an outstretched left leg. Edinburgh added some late gloss when their scrum forced a penalty try as they took their unbeaten home run to nine games.