Superb Connacht Put Seven Tries Past Ospreys

Connacht’s admirable sense of adventure at a wind and rain-lashed Sportsground was rewarded with a 46-18 bonus point win over the Ospreys.

The westerners led 18-11 at half-time after playing into the big wind, Mack Hansen touching down after just 129 seconds and debutant centre Shayne Bolton and Oran McNulty also scoring tries.

Luke Morgan had an opportunist score for the Ospreys, with Stephen Myler booting two penalties to Jack Carty’s one.

Sam Arnold and Joe Hawkins swapped seven-pointers, making it 25-18, before Morgan’s 58th-minute high tackle saw him sin-binned and concede a penalty try.

As the Ospreys fell to their second United Rugby Championship defeat, Connacht replacements Caolin Blade and Stephen Fitzgerald made it a seven-try success.

The hosts took off at a rate of knots in the difficult conditions, Carty’s long pass finding winger Hansen who stepped inside two defenders for an unconverted try.

Myler and Carty traded penalties for an 8-3 scoreline before another quick-fire attack – finished by 20-year-old South African Bolton – was rewarded with five more points.

McNulty made the initial break from inside Connacht’s half, hooker Dave Heffernan took it on and he connected with Hansen who raided up the left touchline and passed back inside for Bolton to score.

Carty missed the conversion as did Myler after a Connacht attack broke down, Owen Watkin twice hacked through and flying winger Morgan got the grounding for his try.

However, young full-back McNulty then took advantage of a defensive slip to scamper over from 45 metres out.

The visitors, who went close through hooker Elvis Taione, returned fire when Myler cut the gap to seven points.

Connacht were the aggressors on the resumption, centre Arnold brilliantly breaking through a couple of tackles to crash over. Carty squeezed over the conversion.

Back came the Ospreys, successive scrum penalties leading to Rhys Webb releasing teenage centre Hawkins to go in under the posts. Myler’s kick made it a seven-point game again.

Webb were well positioned to deny Connacht replacement Jack Aungier a try, but Morgan’s high tackle on the newly-introduced Peter Robb, as he sought to score in the right corner, was a killer blow.

Connacht dominated the remainder, Blade wriggling free from Reuben Morgan-Williams’ grasp to go in under the posts. Carty unselfishly sent Fitzgerald over in the final few minutes.

The URC player-of-the-match medal deservedly went to Hansen, who trained with the Ireland squad during the Autumn Nations Series.

Apart from his neatly-finished try, his footwork and speed regularly caused problems for the Ospreys defence. Opensides Jac Morgan and Conor Oliver also had a big influence for their teams.

Giving his reaction afterwards, Connacht captain Carty said: “We wanted to build on where we left off against Ulster. That was the big question being asked of us – could we back it up?

“I am just so grateful that we did. We stuck to our principles, and I know in these conditions people might expect us to kick but we trust in our game-plan.

“We have these conditions a lot down here so you have to embrace the challenge. We did that this evening. The coaches empower us here.

“We have a game-plan that suits all sorts of conditions. You saw in the Aviva (Stadium) a few weeks ago what we were capable of when it was a dry track.

“A lot of the things we did then (against Ulster), we repeated here, which was pleasing. In wet conditions, you can go into your shell a lot. But we didn’t.”

Head coach Andy Friend commented: “I thought the manner in which we played, you wouldn’t have known for lots of the game that the conditions were doing what they were doing.

“A lot of the key principles that we keep talking about have been instilled in the fellas, the tight lines, the bodies in motion, the running squad.

“We played into the breeze and that probably suited us, we had to keep the ball in hand. We have some very talented footballers who have worked hard on our skills.

“It looked like it came together tonight. They’re a good side, Ospreys, to be able to come away with a scoreline like that is pleasing.”