Following a dramatic 15-10 United Rugby Championship win for Connacht over league leaders Glasgow at Dexcom Stadium, here are our five takeaways.
Top line
After all the recent Test-level thrills in the Six Nations, this was a dour Irish-Scottish club encounter that left very much to be desired until its frantic finish. Glasgow jumped 10-3 ahead following a yellow card before losing out to two late tries – the clincher coming with the clock in the red.
Six wins and 23 points separated the teams on the table before the kick-off, but the contrary west of Irish weather has an impact on a match short on quality and high on frustration. Warriors’ Ollie Smith was held up over the line on four minutes, but anyone who thought that chance had set an entertaining tone was sorely mistaken.
So limited were the exchanges in the first half that it ended 3-0 to the hosts, a 25th-minute Sam Gilbert penalty proving to be the only score. Connacht would have rued not kicking a second penalty from in front of the posts, opting instead to tap and having Sean Jansen held up over the line. The No.8 then had a try controversially ruled out for diving over the top of the ruck on 31 minutes.
Hopes that the second half would immediately bring about something different were forlorn for quite a while, with more faffing about between the respective 22s and the teams cancelling each other out. It wasn’t until the 57th minute that there was finally something of note, Joe Joyce getting yellow-carded for colliding with Ben Afshar after the whistle had gone for a crooked lineout.
It was costly, as Kyle Steyn finally broke the try-less monotony four minutes later, profiting from a Dan Lancaster pass. With Gilbert missing a penalty kick in reply following an off-the-ball tackle, the Glasgow duo combined again – this time with a kick pass – for another try and a 10-3 lead.
Despite losing the sin-binning period 10-0, Connacht resolutely fought back. Josh Murphy was awarded a converted 74th-minute try, setting up the grandstand finish that had the home team mauling at the line and scoring through the irrepressible Jansen right at the death.
Game-changing sub
It’s been quite a few weeks for Connacht’s Cian Prendergast, the older brother of Leinster and Irish out-half Sam. There was a first Six Nations start versus France; then a late call-up to the bench and an energetic contribution in the win over England.
On Saturday, it was back to the bread and butter of club action from the Galway bench, and you could see from his short-lived first-half 10-minute cameo that he would be a pest, judging by how he robbed the 15th-minute Glasgow lineout ball near the try line.
Even though he knocked on, it was smart, intuitive play and a preview of the intelligence the super sub would bring to bear when he returned to the fray in the 49th minute, going on to collect the sponsor’s player of the match award. His 56th-minute counter ruck, which got Connacht possession when the whistle went, produced what was until that point the biggest cheer of a numbing afternoon.
He was then at the forefront of the unimaginable comeback from 10-3 down, his bristling carry to the line and attempted deflected offload resulting in the lineout that his team mauled over for the winning score.
It was an influential contribution that illustrated how a player’s confidence can be steeled by international duty in sharp contrast to the unsettling experience that his dropped brother is currently enduring. The way the Connacht crowd reacted to Cian’s abrasive play was crucial in them keeping the belief and becoming just the third side to beat the Warriors this season.
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Lancaster versus Lancaster
Little did Stuart Lancaster imagine that his travelling to a match in Galway last April would result in Saturday’s family head-to-head at the Dexcom. Having been sacked as Racing boss, he was in attendance as a father to watch his son Dan play for the 92 in a Challenge Cup win.
That visit, though unwittingly planted a seed that quickly grew and not long after he missed out on the Wallabies job, he was unveiled as the new Connacht boss. Son Dan also exited Paris at the end of last season, turning up at Glasgow, and he seemed set to have the family bragging rights after exploding to life during the Joyce sin-binning.
Lancaster has begun the match at out-half but switched to inside centre with Adam Hastings coming on as an early first-half sub, and he came into his own with Glasgow chasing down a 3-0 deficit against 14 men.
His no-look pass unsettled the Connacht defence, allowing Steyn to cut a line that blasted him past a clutter of would-be tacklers, and he then produced an exquisite kick pass for Steyn to embark on the break for his second try.
Both were pieces of lovely play in contrast to the poor first-half decision where he decided to take a first-half lineout throw quickly and it resulted in Connacht pressure and a penalty against Glasgow that swung the early momentum.
Banned Bundee back
It was Prendergast who took the accolades in the wake of Connacht’s last-gasp win but plenty of attention was on Bundee Aki, the veteran midfielder returning to action following his sobering four-match ban for his unwanted interactions with the match officials in last month’s loss to Leinster.
The layoff enabled Stuart McCloskey to steal a march on the Ireland No.12 jersey, culminating in his virtuoso display away to England last weekend.
Having been prevented by the IRFU from travelling to a training camp in Portugal before his ban was confirmed, the message has very much been that the Kiwi must change his ways, and he was as ultimately good as gold here on his return to club action as a 56th-minute substitute.
He was spotted having both arms in the air a few minutes later, gesticulating that his team should be getting a decision while defending their line, but he went on to have a couple of decent involvements.
There was carry in the lead-up to the penalty that Connacht missed to go 6-5 ahead, and he then showed all of his experience in the late drama, helping to get Finn Treacy away in their own half before handling again later in the attack, getting his team into the 22 before Prendergast went on to get awarded a lineout.
It wasn’t play that bashed down the walls and will see him immediately reinstated into an Ireland jersey. He’s going to have to bide his time on that front, but it was a positive on-pitch response to what has been a difficult period for him.
Timely reminder for Glasgow
It certainly didn’t feel good for Glasgow when referee Ben Breakspear blew his final whistle to confirm their five-point defeat. Ahead 10-3 with the match heading down the finishing straight, this was a contest that the 2024 URC champions should have had the guile to see out and win.
However, they ultimately paid the price for far too many sloppy turnovers and were left ambushed at the death, their maul defence inadequate to stop Connacht’s winning drive.
Losing, though, must be seen as no bad thing for them. It will put an end to distracting chat about winning streaks – they were on a run of nine wins heading to Galway – and allow them to refocus and finesse with the business end of the season set to start from the March 21 visit to Scotstoun of Leinster.
What the defeat did highlight is that some of the backup players, promoted to the team with Test stars away, can’t afford to be off and let standards slip, and that’s a reminder they will surely heed after this late, late loss.
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