Disappointing Return For Connacht Against Three-Try Scarlets

The Scarlets’ swashbuckling attack earned them a 20-14 Guinness PRO14 win over Connacht in heavy wind and rain at the Sportsground.

Ryan Conbeer made it three tries in two games with a well-taken brace which steered the Llanelli men into a 13-7 half-time lead.

Despite leaking converted scores to Abraham Papali’i and Ultan Dillane, the Scarlets stayed clear with Dane Blacker’s 43rd-minute breakaway effort moving them up to second in Conference B.

Conbeer crossed inside five minutes, a searing attack seeing player-of-the-match Johnny McNicholl get on the outside of Matt Healy and release the 21-year-old winger for a powerful finish near the right corner. Dan Jones was unable to convert.

Connacht understandably looked a little ring-rusty, with the Covid-19 pandemic causing the postponement of their last two games against Benetton Rugby and the Dragons.

Getting the home pack firing, Gavin Thornbury swooped on a loose lineout past the quarter-hour mark. Dillane carried forcefully before Kiwi number 8 Papali’i, on his home debut, spun in under the posts.

Jack Carty’s conversion split the sides before a prolonged spell of kicking was broken up by Conbeer’s second score. Carty coughed up a lineout and with the Connacht midfield carved open, full-back McNicholl darted through to provide another try assist.

After sliding the conversion wide, out-half Jones turned a scrum penalty into three more points and Connacht were frustrated in their attempts to respond.

Early in the second period, McNicholl ran back a kick with intent, launching an attack out to the left where a dummying Paul Asquith put young scrum half Blacker racing in for a classy try, converted by Jones.

Sprung from the bench at 20-7 down, Kieran Marmion narrowly knocked on at the try-line as the westerners emerged scoreless after turning down an easy place-kick.

Blacker and Steff Hughes both produced try-saving tackles to deny John Porch and the luckless Healy respectively, with the worsening conditions stalling Connacht’s comeback bid.

However, all-action flanker Paul Boyle sparked some of their best play and lock Dillane drove over from close range on the hour mark. Carty converted to make it a six-point game.

Connacht had enough pressure to force a late try, but replacement Denis Buckley knocked on close to the line, under pressure from Uzair Cassiem. It was the Scarlets’ first victory in Galway since April 2017.

Giving his reaction after the round 6 clash, Connacht boss Andy Friend said: “We were off for two weeks and we could use that as an excuse but we don’t want to.

“The other way of looking at it is that we had two weeks of pent-up energy and that’s the team we needed to be. We had the energy, we knew what we needed to do but we didn’t do it.

“We weren’t at 100%. I didn’t think we worked hard enough in the first half. I thought we were much better in the second half.

“It’s not all doom and gloom. The nature of this professional game is you don’t hold on to the wins, you don’t hold on to the losses, you learn from them and look ahead to the next game, which is Zebre.”