Connacht Fall To Frustrating Defeat In Stellenbosch

A frustrating start to their South Africa tour saw Connacht, who lost Bundee Aki to a second half red card, go down 38-15 to defending champions, the DHL Stormers, in Stellenbosch.

Dylan Tierney-Martin marked only his second start for Connacht with his first try, getting over from a 38th-minute lineout maul to close the gap to 13-8 for half-time.

The Stormers led from Evan Ross’ early try onwards, aided by out-half Manie Libbok’s accuracy with the boot as he kicked eight first half points and and added ten more after the break.

Connacht struggled to get over the gain-line at times, and Aki’s 60th-minute dismissal effectively consigned them to a second successive BKT United Rugby Championship defeat.

Jack Aungier’s late try was only a consolation score as the Stormers pocketed the bonus point thanks to further touchdowns from Andre-Hugo Venter (61 minutes), Hacjivah Dayimani (67) and replacement Marcel Theunissen (80+3).

Some individual brilliance from the highly-rated Roos handed the Stormers an early lead. Dan du Plessis made the initial incision on a looping run past the halfway line.

Connacht’s defence was splintered by Roos’ follow-up charge, which saw him surge in between John Porch and captain Jarrad Butler before bouncing of Mack Hansen’s attempted tackle to score in the left corner.

Libbok swung over the conversion from close to the left touchline, but Connacht were soon off the mark when out-half Fitzgerald punished a Stormers offside to make it 7-3.

Junior Pokomela carried forcefully, with the defending Butler caught on the wrong side after the tackle. Libbok punished him from the tee to restore the seven-point lead.

Butler redeemed himself with a well-won turnover penalty, leading to some improved phase-building from the westerners towards the end of the opening quarter.

Handling errors were proving costly, though, and an Oran McNulty fumble handed the momentum back to the Stormers who then won a scrum penalty in a central position.

Thankfully for Connacht, a high strike from Libbok missed the target, but Marvin Orie charged down an attempted clearance from Caolin Blade to keep Andy Friend’s men pinned back.

Josh Murphy, who had stolen an earlier lineout, was penalised for not rolling away quickly enough in the 25th minute. This time Libbok split the posts to keep the scoreboard moving in their favour.

Connacht found some rhythm from the restart, McNulty and Porch driving them forward with some smart running. The Stormers leaked four penalties, two at maul time and one right on their try-line as Blade was stopped just short.

The South Africans stood firm but handed possession back from an overthrown lineout, and further indiscipline led to lock Orie being sin-binned for going offside at a ruck.

Connacht converted the pressure into points, setting up two more close-in lineouts. 23-year-old hooker Tierney-Martin was able to drive over from the second one, the conversion nudged narrowly wide by Conor Fitzgerald.

The momentum swung back to the Stormers on the restart, Libbok launching another penalty through the uprights before Connacht lost the sniping Blade to a suspected ankle injury.

Murphy and Niall Murray did find some joy in pressurising the hosts’ lineout, only for the newly-introduced Aki to be caught offside from a kick. Libbok claimed the three points on offer for a 19-8 scoreline.

Despite Porch and replacement Kieran Marmion threatening out wide on the left, and then Hansen and Porch doing likewise on the opposite, Connacht’s challenge unravelled after Aki saw red.

The Ireland international appeared to make contact with Seabelo Senatla’s head during a clear-out, play briefly continuing with a David Hawkshaw cross-field kick being claimed by Tom Farrell for a try behind the posts.

Unfortunately for the men in green, the TMO review saw the score chalked off. Aki was found guilty of a dangerous clear-out with referee Gianluca Gnecchi reaching for his red card.

Hooker Venter got on the end of a sparkling attack to reach over in the left corner, with some slick handling by Clayton Blommetjies, Dayimani, Senatla and Paul de Wet in the build-up. Libbok converted from the touchline.

Flanker and URC player-of-the-match Dayimani had a 40-metre run-in in the 67th minute, with Angelo Davids getting the plaudits for the initial turnover. Connacht battled on and deservedly reached double figures.

The hard work of the forwards led to Aungier piling over the whitewash in the 70th minute. The try, converted by Hawkshaw, came after a jinking run by Marmion and good ball retention.

The Stormers still had time to squeeze in a try-scoring bonus point. Penalties put them in a good position and a well-driven maul did the job for Theunissen. Libbok completed his 18-point haul with the last kick.