Carty Kicks Superb Connacht Through To First Semi-Final Since 2016

Captain Jack Carty’s five penalties, combined with a defiant defensive display, ensured Connacht are bound for South Africa in next weekend’s semi-finals of the BKT United Rugby Championship.

Heavy favourites Ulster, who finished second in the table, suffered play-off heartbreak with a 15-10 defeat at Kingspan Stadium, failing to fire under intense pressure from their provincial rivals.

Carty cancelled out John Cooney’s opening 20th-minute penalty with three of his own as the westerners, driven on by excellent player-of-the-match Shamus Hurley-Langton, led 9-3 at half-time.

Ulster skipper Alan O’Connor plunged over for the game’s only try in the 63rd minute, but Carty bookended the second half with two more penalties, his match winner coming five minutes from the end.

Andy Friend’s men still had to survive a frantic finish as Ulster got back into try-scoring range. Replacement Dylan Tierney-Martin came up with trumps with a turnover penalty past the 80-minute mark.

Having gained some revenge for their 2019 quarter-final at the same venue, Connacht’s reward for handing Ulster their first ever URC play-off defeat in Belfast is a trip to either the DHL Stormers, the defending champions, or the Vodacom Bulls.

Ulster had the carrot of a home semi-final to aim for, and accompanied by his baby daughter Phoebe, Jacob Stockdale was the first of their players to grace the pitch on the occasion of his 100th cap.

David McCann and Cian Prendergast caught the eye during an edgy first 10 minutes, particularly with their work at the breakdown, and McCann also had a strong carry past the halfway line.

A wayward Carty drop goal attempt was followed by a miscued Stockdale kick, the resulting lineout allowing young Kiwi flanker Hurley-Langton to lead a promising Connacht attack.

However, the visitors, whose last semi-final appearance was during their 2015/16 title-winning campaign, blew a close-in tap penalty. A Prendergast push, amid a coming together of players, then gave the Ulstermen a chance to kick clear.

Tom Farrell’s impressive dummy and break was spoiled by his failure to connect with the supporting Caolin Blade, as Michael Lowry did enough to bring him down but sustained a game-ending head injury in the process.

Cooney opened the scoring soon after, having been part of a sharp attack out wide sparked by Robert Baloucoune and Rob Herring’s clever hands.

Connacht were level within three minutes, a penalty putting them into scoring range before Carty split the posts following a forceful carry from Josh Murphy.

A neat link-up between Niall Murray and Finlay Bealham, coupled with a pacy counter attack led by Baloucoune and Cooney, saw this interprovincial clash begin to open up.

The all-action Hurley-Langton increased his influence with two terrific turnovers at the breakdown. Carty sandwiched in his second place-kick to make it 6-3, rewarding Prendergast’s opportunist kick and chase-down.

Handling errors thwarted both sides’ progress but just before the interval, James Hume and Stuart McCloskey leaked successive penalties, allowing Carty to leave six points in it.

Ulster fell 12-3 behind early in the second half as they watched a long-range Carty kick go over off the left hand post. Denis Buckley had won a scrum penalty, getting the decision over the newly-introduced Gareth Milasinovich.

As Connacht hunted down an elusive try, Prendergast had one ruled out for a knock-on from Blade, and then a loose pass from the otherwise brilliant Bundee Aki lifted the pressure on the home defence.

An unusually muted home crowd directed their ire at referee Andrew Brace, but lacking their usual high level of execution and accuracy, Ulster continued to concede costly penalties.

On the hour mark, a reinforced Ulster began to make inroads, yet a bandaged-up Mack Hansen came to Connacht’s rescue with well-timed tackles on Baloucoune and Stockdale, and an outstanding turnover.

Nonetheless, a couple of penalties allowed Dan McFarland’s side to press via their trusty lineout maul. Replacement Tom Stewart was tackled short before O’Connor scored from a ruck to raise the decibel level significantly.

With the conversion from Cooney, Connacht’s lead was down to two points with a quarter of an hour remaining. Ulster held onto the momentum thanks to replacement Jordi Murphy’s turnover penalty and Baloucoune slipping out of two tackles.

Crucially though, it was the league’s seventh seeds who held their composure and discipline late on. Ulster’s penalty count increased as O’Connor went in off his feet and Murphy was then pinged for side-entry.

An inspirational break from a bloodied Kieran Marmion brought play back up to the Ulster 22. Billy Burns was caught offside a few phases later, setting up Carty to give his team a five-point lead.

The away support had to endure some nervy moments – Marmion’s box-kicking backfired after an Aki turnover – but Tierney-Martin won the breakdown battle to seal only Connacht’s third victory over Ulster in Belfast since 1960.

Savouring this famous result, their director of rugby Friend said: “Unbelievable. I’m immensely proud and I’ll keep reverberating that because we are immensely proud.

“We normally are a team that has to get everything right to win but tonight we showed that we don’t. We weren’t the team that got everything right tonight but we still won.

“That shows enormous growth as a footy side and it’s an enormous compliment to everybody, players and coaches. The belief is now there.

“I thought we were good tonight but I reckon we can be so much better. That’s the exciting thing. We get another chance to show it next weekend and I don’t care where we go, to be honest with you.”

Disappointed to bow out in a such a manner at home, Ulster head coach McFarland admitted: “To come out on the wrong side of a really tense affair is gutting. We’ve got a lot of people downstairs who put in a huge amount of effort and the bottom line is we were second best and I thought Connacht were excellent.

“I want to pay tribute to Andy Friend and the work that he’s done at Connacht, (head coach) Pete Wilkins has done a great job as well and the players played really well tonight.

“They disrupted us at the breakdown and that was the difference in the game really, their defensive breakdown versus our ability to hold onto the ball.

“That’s really disappointing but it’s play-off rugby. They’re often very tense, especially the interpro games, and we were on the wrong side of it.”