Academy out-half Conor Fitzgerald was central to Connacht’s strong start at the AJ Bell Stadium, but Chris Ashton’s hat-trick of tries on his debut catapulted Sale Sharks to a 34-13 bonus point win in the second round of the Challenge Cup.
Conor Fitzgerald made his full debut for the province, kicking two penalties and converting Shane Delahunt’s 30th-minute maul try for a 13-6 lead. However, Sale were level by half-time and went on to dominate the second half with Chris Ashton completing his trio of scores and Josh Beaumont also touching down.
The result puts a dent in Connacht’s bid to reach the last-eight – they are second in Pool 3, six points behind Sharks – but it was a valuable run-out for some of the province’s extended squad, including the Academy trio of Fitzgerald, Colm de Buitléar and Matthew Burke, against a full-strength Sale side.
Giving his reaction after the game, Connacht head coach Andy Friend said: “A few blokes have really put their hands up and proven to us and to themselves that they are capable of playing at this level. So it’s good to have more depth there in the squad. I thought Conor Fitz did very well for his first start and only his second game at professional level.
“Colm de Buitléar also did well and Mattie Burke had his first run and was strong in the scrum. (Summer signing) David Horwitz also had his first run so there are opportunities for us but at the same time that’s not a reason we should be giving up those games. We have got to make sure we are better than that.
“There were two tries that were pivotal to the game – the one Sale got just before half-time and then the one they got after the break. There are periods we’ve been looking at in our game to make sure we close out the opening half better than we did again today.”
21-year-old Limerick native Fitzgerald had an almost immediate impact, his 30-metre break leading to a deliberate knock-on from Sale’s Springbok scrum half Faf de Klerk who earned 10 minutes in the sin-bin. Connacht’s number 10 mopped up with the three points and winger de Buitléar soon got his hands on the ball via an interception.
Former Wallaby James O’Connor was prominent in attack and doing his best to get Sale on the scoreboard, but a 16th minute penalty for not rolling away allowed Fitzgerald to double the visitors’ lead to 6-0. Two well-struck place-kicks from de Klerk brought the hosts level, either side of a crucial try-scoring tackle from full-back Tiernan O’Halloran.
Back-to-back penalties saw Connacht go for the corner and their pack delivered a well-taken try for hooker Delahunt from the lineout, with a terrific touchline conversion added by the left-footed Fitzgerald. The tit-for-tat exchanges continued, though, as a costly Connacht turnover in a promising position allowed Ashton to burn up the right touchline, fend of O’Halloran and score in the corner.
The levelling conversion was swung over by de Klerk for good measure, before the westerners, captained by scrum half Caolin Blade for the first time, lost vital ground in the third quarter. An early Robin Copeland break augured well, but another turnover – this time from a scrum in midfield – launched Sale forward for their second try.
O’Halloran knocked on under pressure near the try-line, giving Sale a five-metre scrum from which determined number 8 Beaumont crashed over with 53 minutes on the clock. Sharks loosehead Ross Harrison did appear to be angling in at the set piece, but there was no call from referee Ben Whitehouse or his nearby assistant.
Bryn Evans and Byron McGuigan combined to set the wheels in motion for Ashton to cross the whitewash again just three minutes later, going over from a quick tap after Connacht were left frustrated by Whitehouse’s handling of the breakdown. De Klerk’s reliable left boot nudged the margin out to 27-13.
With a fully-fit Horwitz now on, Connacht were poised to strike back with O’Halloran almost over for a much-needed try. However, the pass was intercepted and Ashton had his sights set on a length-of-the-field try. Paul Boyle caught him after the England winger had chipped ahead and saw yellow for the challenge.
14-man Connacht were under all sorts of pressure, and de Buitléar conceded a lineout from a dangerous kick before Kieran Wilkinson moved the ball wide for Ashton to dive over and seal his hat-trick, the subsequent conversion seeing de Klerk complete his 14-point haul. The visitors looked to salvage something from the game late on, but they were unable to capitalise on breaks from Kyle Godwin and replacement Tom McCartney.
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