Bonus point lost in dying seconds
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Connacht 6
Leinster 18
By JOHN FALLON
Connacht coach Eric Elwood was very disappointed to come away with nothing as his side fell to their first home defeat of the season.
They were starved of possession at a packed Sportsground on Saturday night and were denied even a bonus point when Dominic Ryan intercepted a Frank Murphy pass in the dying seconds.
“The lads know they should have got something out of the game, be it a point. For 80 minutes of effort you just get nothing. It is disappointing, it is frustrating to get completely nothing for your efforts,” said Elwood.
“I can’t fault the effort and the endeavour of the lads. There were long periods and we defended valiantly again. But you have got to play the game in the right area of the park.
“In a tight game when the break down was so contentious and Leinster are so good at the break down you are just putting yourself under pressure there and it is something that we didn’t have to do,” he said.
Connacht, worryingly, have not scored a try in their last three Magners League having scored seven in their opening two games but have only added one since.
Their honest endeavour merited at least a bonus point but that was robbed when Dominic Ryan intercepted Frank Murphy’s pass in the final play of the game to race in from 30 metres.
Sean Cronin came close to securing a match-winner for Connacht after breaking from deep in the dying seconds, with a worried Jonathan Sexton looking anxiously at the officials after his soccer-style sliding tackle nailed the Connacht hooker as they both chased his chip.
Connacht should have led at the break but Ian Keatley miscued a penalty in front of the posts just before the interval, having landed an earlier effort from the left.
The only try of game came after 13 minutes from a lineout take by Leo Cullen on the right which saw scrum-half Isaac Boss make a superb break before looping a long wide for Nacewa to step inside Darragh Fanning for the opening score.
Fanning and Ray Ofisa combined to deny Jamie Heaslip in the same corner after 27 minutes on one of the few occasions Leinster managed to get deep into the red zone.
Leinster maintained possession for long periods of the second-half but they struggled to crack a disciplined Connacht defence.
Sexton was off target with two ambitious drop goal efforts but Connacht hit back affter 54 minutes when some great ball retention going forward set up a penalty opportunity for Keatley and he made no mistake in front of the posts to make it 8-6.
But that was as near as Connacht got as Leinster went on the offensive, with Sexton extending their lead with a penalty from 22 metres on the left after 63 minutes before Ryan broke Connacht’s hearts with his late intercept try.
CONNACHT:
Pens: Keatley (2)
LEINSTER:
Tries: Nacewa, Ryan
Con: Sexton
Pens: Sexton (2)
Connacht: G Duffy; D Fanning, N Ta’auso, K Matthews, F Carr; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, J Hagan; M Swift, M McCarthy; J O’Connor, R Ofisa, J Muldoon.
Reps: M Nikora for Keatley, 59; T Nathan for Fanning, 69; E Taylor for O’Connor, 69; B Upton for McCarthy, 76.
Leinster: R Kearney; S Horgan, E O’Malley, F McFadden, I Nacewa; J Sexton, I Boss; C Healy, R Strauss, M Ross; L Cullen, D Toner; S O’Brien, S Jennings, J Heaslip.
Reps: G Darcy for Kearney, 40; N Hines for Cullen, 58; E Reddan for Boss, 63; S Shawe for Ross, 63; D Ryan for Heaslip, 69 mins.
Referee: G Clancy (Ireland).
