Tim Donnelly and Aidan Wynne were both in commanding form as Connacht opened the new Magners League season with an impressive 22-7 defeat of the Newport Gwent Dragons at the Sportsground.
Australian recruit Donnelly claimed a personal haul of 17 points as Connacht continued their enviable record of winning each of their opening league matches since the competition began in 2001.
Friday was a memorable night too for England-capped prop Robbie Morris, whose first half try came at a crucial stage, while Ferbane youngster Wynne showed poise beyond his years to terrorise the Dragons defence at regular intervals.
The 20-year-old certainly has a big future in the game if he can maintain this sort of form, and the same can be said for the westerners’ new winger Ofisa Treviranus who is an elusive strike runner.
Donnelly kicked Connacht into a fourth-minute lead but the game’s only try was scored by the Welsh visitors, who have not won in Ireland since October 2004.
Dragons number eight Joe Bearman made some hard yards, lock Peter Sidoli carried on and then full-back Martyn Thomas hit the line at pace and chipped over the top to touch down.
Gareth McCarthy, who converted Thomas’ effort, was also kicking well out of hand but some good work from Wynne paved the way for a Donnelly penalty in reply.
Morris’ try followed after a brilliantly executed lineout maul. Making his competitive return for Connacht, flanker Johnny O’Connor won a lineout ball and getting their positioning exactly right, Michael Bradley’s charges were able to maul their way to the whitewash from 25 metres out.
The conversion and two further penalties from Donnelly, whose place-kicking was right on the money, sped Connacht into a 19-7 lead they held until the interval.
The Dragons did have periods of dominance at the beginning of each half but could not trouble the scoreboard and were outplayed at the breakdown throughout by a hungry Connacht pack.
The Welsh side gained some sizeable chunks of territory on the restart but they once again failed to pick off their points as McCarthy missed two penalties from the left and right sides of the pitch.
Connacht’s disciplined defence also saw them stop Ashley Smith short of their try line and win turnover ball just when it looked like they might concede a second try.
Donnelly’s injury-time drop goal put the icing on the cake for Connacht who face a tricky trip to Llanelli next Friday.
No matter what happens at Stradey Park, Bradley’s charges certainly have something to build on for the campaign ahead after the Dragons joined four other teams – Cardiff (2001 and 2005), the Borders (2002 and 2006), Edinburgh (2003) and Glasgow (2004) – to have lost league openers to the men from the west.
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