Connacht’s season ended in agonising fashion as they lost an extra-time thriller to Gloucester having been just seconds away from winning the European Champions Cup play-off in normal time.
Two tries from Emerging Ireland call-up Matt Healy – the second of them in extra-time – had Connacht on the cusp of a famous victory at Kingsholm, as he supplemented earlier efforts from impressive young half-backs John Cooney and Jack Carty.
However, a converted score from Bill Meakes brought about extra-time and Gloucester, showing their clinical edge and resilience, managed to erase a 28-25 deficit with Darren Dawiduik and Jonny May both touching down in the closing minutes.
Connacht head coach Pat Lam said ‘you have got to live with those tough calls’ when asked afterwards about a couple of key decisions from the match officials that preceded Meakes’ last-gasp try, including a contentious ruck penalty that referee Romain Poite awarded against the province.
“I’m absolutely proud of the boys but absolutely gutted for them. Young outside-half Jack Carty was outstanding out there as it’s been a tough roller coaster for him in recent weeks,” admitted Lam.
“When we went ahead in extra-time, I thought we would win it but we needed to control the ball and didn’t. That try (from Meakes) looked like a block (on Andrew Browne) to us, but the TMO ruled against and you’ve got to live with those tough calls.
“(For the ruck penalty at the end of normal time), we saw (Tom) Palmer had come on to our side and we would have thought a penalty was coming our way. If you look at the video, both Robbie (Henshaw) and Ian Porter highlighted that, but unfortunately that penalty went against us.”
While they will be crestfallen with the result, Connacht can be hugely proud of their performance over the 100 minutes, particularly when you consider they have 16 players out injured. A number of youngsters got valuable experience of a high-pressure European match, with ten of today’s matchday squad aged between 21 and 24.
In warm conditions, the visitors endured a nightmare start as George Naoupu failed to gather the kick-off, a clever dink from James Hook saw Tiernan O’Halloran concede a five-metre lineout and Gloucester number 8 Ross Moriarty touched down from the resulting maul.
Greig Laidlaw’s conversion was cancelled out by Carty’s opening penalty, as Connacht signalled their intent by driving a scrum forward which led to ex-Ulster prop John Afoa infringing.
It got even better for Lam’s side from the restart as the electric Healy stepped in to challenge Charlie Sharples and break down a dangerous Gloucester move near halfway. Captain John Muldoon picked up the loose ball and released Cooney who had the pace to dart up the left wing and score with Carty converting for 10-7.
The Cherry and Whites upped the tempo with ball in hand, getting May and Meakes on the attack, but Connacht made their tackles and scrambled well in defence. Afoa evened up his scrum battle with Denis Buckley by winning a penalty in the 22 which Laidlaw landed to level matters, but the PRO12 Dream Team loosehead was back on top in the very next scrum.
On the negative side, Connacht’s error count was increasing as was a punishing tackle count. They sought to turn the screw in the scrum, but Gloucester managed to get set piece ball away near halfway and Hook was put through a gap on the left where he set up the fleet-footed Charlie Sharples for a well-worked try.
After Laidlaw’s missed conversion, a terrific offload from the typically industrious Bundee Aki freed up Carr for a midfield run and soon the westerners engineered an overlap. O’Halloran carried twice in the 22 before Carty fed Carr and took a return offload to dart in under the posts. His conversion of his own try was the difference between the sides at the break – 17-15.
Both sides had to make adjustments before the half-time whistle, though, with referee Poite sin-binning both Afoa and Buckley as he lost patience with the amount of reset scrums. Connacht almost conjured up a third try soon after, Healy going close to linking to Cooney after the winger launched a brilliant chip and chase from his own half.
The third quarter saw Gloucester gain the upper hand as Laidlaw’s 44th-minute penalty nudged them back in front. Loose kicking increased the pressure on the Connacht defence and it took some excellent breakdown work from the returning Buckley to win a vital penalty after the hosts had kicked to the corner.
Connacht were then reduced to 14 men for the second time when flanker Eoghan Masterson was pinged for not rolling away, however Laidlaw’s resulting place-kick was off target.
The momentum seemed to swing in Connacht’s favour approaching the hour mark as the 22-year-old Carty came up with some important plays. The Athlone native found a tremendous touch while off balance, matching the efforts of full-back O’Halloran who did very well to gather a high ball beforehand.
Afoa and company managed to foil Connacht’s lineout drive soon after, but Gloucester were caught out when Carty’s inch-perfect cross-field kick was gathered by Healy who raided in from the left for a rousing 61st minute try.
Carty missed the conversion on the near side and Connacht’s overworked defence was stretched again as May broke the initial line. It took some great scrambling in energy-sapping conditions for the westerners to hold out, with O’Halloran’s gutsy try-saving tackle denying May in the right corner.
Connacht’s huge work-rate was typified by hooker Tom McCartney who, having gone down injured, got up off the deck to win a crucial ruck penalty in the 70th minute. Carty also clawed back important territory for his side with some accurate kicking out of hand.
It suddenly seemed like Gloucester were the ones hanging on as Henshaw and lively replacement James Connolly got over the gain-line, with a lovely offload from Carty to Shane O’Leary edging the visitors closer to the try-line.
Healy’s clever use of possession as he launched another kick chase forced Gloucester to rush a lineout and run the ball from behind their own whitewash. They paid the price when Connacht won a breakdown decision and Carty gladly gobbled up the three points from close range.
That left Gloucester seven points adrift, but David Humphreys’ charges got a lifeline when that last-minute ruck penalty went their way. Facing some tired bodies, quick possession allowed centre Meakes to evade three defenders and make the line for Laidlaw to convert and take the game to extra-time at 25-all.
Although it was a big psychological blow for Connacht, they reacted well with Henshaw making an eye-catching break on the right. Unfortunately, replacement scrum half Porter was unable to hold the centre’s pass and then Carty sent a drop goal attempt wide after Aly Muldowney had bounded up the left wing.
Centre Hook then stepped up to land a monster 54-metre penalty to give Gloucester a 28-25 lead at the end of the first period of extra-time. Three minutes into the second period, Healy responded with his second try, taking a flat pass from Buckley and showing great acceleration to blaze through the Gloucester 22 and go over by the posts.
There was a question mark over whether Henshaw had knocked the ball forward at the preceding ruck, but Connacht benefited from the TMO decision on this occasion and Carty added the extras for a 32-28 scoreline.
But Connacht could not close out a hard-earned win as Gloucester, recapturing some of their Challenge Cup-winning form from earlier this season, stung the visitors with two quick-fire tries while Dave Heffernan was in the sin-bin. First, their pack used a close-in lineout to maul up to the line and replacement hooker Dawidiuk supplied the finish touches to make it a one-point game.
The home triumph was put beyond doubt when May’s quick feet were too much for a few flat-footed Connacht forwards. The England international broke clean through from his 22 and linked with Billy Twelvetrees before gathering the return pass to round off a result which will see Gloucester play French side Bordeaux-Begles in next Sunday’s final Champions Cup play-off at Sixways Stadium.
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