CONNACHT WERE NEVER going to do it any other way.
In ideal conditions at Murrayfield, the western province’s attack once again proved far too hot to handle and brought them a first-ever trophy at the expense of Leinster in the Guinness Pro12 final.
Connacht’s back three stole the headlines by finishing the tries but once again it was a collective effort that brought about the attacking reward.
All three of the Connacht tries came after Leinster turned the ball over to them cheaply and Lam’s men showed an utterly ruthless edge to punish their highly-decorated inter-provincial rivals.
Rather than inhibiting them, the pressure that comes with any final liberated and inspired Connacht even further. They ended an unforgettable season with one of their most memorable attacking displays.
Counter
With Matt Healy having served Leinster a reminder of his threat with a breakout down the left only minutes previously, Connacht struck for their first try with a stunning kick return.
The possession comes from a poor Leinster kick. While Leo Cullen’s men continually pressured Ulster in the semi-finals with good box kicking from Reddan, yesterday they invited Connacht to attack back at them with efforts like the one above.
It’s long from Reddan, which is not automatically a bad thing, but the kick comes before chasers can get set in strong positions to follow up. Healy receives the ball deep in his own half but, as we know, that’s of no great concern to Connacht.
Running the ball back is the only thing in Healy’s mind.
The 27-year-old’s burst up the middle is impressive but he benefits from the excellent work of others in front of him to make the break.
The three players we will focus on in particular are highlighted above; John Muldoon [red], Bundee Aki [yellow] and Robbie Henshaw [blue].
Henshaw immediately heads for the left touchline, keen to provide the width to Connacht’s counter-attack that is going to prove so crucial in finishing the chance.
Muldoon and Aki, meanwhile, are focused on creating traffic for Leinster’s defence as they look to close up the middle of the pitch.
As we can see above, Aki slides in from the left-hand side to subtly get in front of Garry Ringrose. He doesn’t run into the Leinster midfielder to nudge him, but he’s just looking to close Ringrose’s line of vision on Healy.
Similarly, Muldoon is in the middle of the pitch shepherding Ben Te’o and it’s probably the most crucial intervention of all here.
Again, it’s extremely subtle but – as with Ringrose on Aki – Te’o has to push out at Muldoon as his line of vision on Healy gets closed off.
When we watch Healy’s bust again from behind the Leinster posts, we get a better illustration of exactly how much he benefits from the work of Aki and Muldoon.
Te’o steps outside Muldoon, back inside and then back outside again as the Connacht captain obscures the run of Healy, while Ringrose is also initially distracted by Aki in front of him.
Te’o and Ringrose do both get hands on Healy but with his footwork and power those arm tackles are always going to be broken and he bursts through, almost beats Richardt Strauss [who was ever so slightly impeded by Aly Muldowney initially] and gets grounded by Dave Kearney.
Having provided the tracking work to aid Healy’s progress, Muldoon swiftly produces a vital second action for Connacht.
Kearney has thoughts of jackaling over Healy and getting his hands on the ball, but Muldoon hammers into him with an aggressive and highly-accurate clearout.
The speed at which Muldoon moves Kearney away is vital to the try being scored.
As Muldoon engages Kearney, we can see below that Jamie Heaslip is in the right-hand pillar position for Leinster.
However, Reddan is folding around from Leinster’s left and we can see that he is communicating with Heaslip to slide out the line and allow the scrum-half to fill the pillar role.
Ideally, Heaslip would like three or four seconds to slide out, get his head up and re-assess how wide from the ruck he needs to be. Instead, it’s a two-second ruck for Connacht as Muldoon blasts Kearney away and they’re instantly playing again.
As is so often the case with Connacht, a forward acts as scrum-half to ensure quick service.
We can see above that it’s tighthead prop Finlay Bealham in this case. Kieran Marmion is actually directly behind him but the front row doesn’t want to add that extra split-second it will take to step over the ball and allow Marmion to pass it.
Bealham, like all Connacht’s forwards, is confident he can make a basic short pass here and does so without fuss.
Leinster simply aren’t set for the pace of the second phase of the kick return.
With Healy, Muldoon and Bealham combining to provide the quick service, we can see above that Heaslip is very tight to Reddan. The number eight hasn’t even had a chance to glance up at the Connacht attackers to his right yet and all he sees is Aki getting on the ball.
Fully aware of how powerful Aki is as a carrier, Heaslip briefly sits down on the Connacht inside centre, worried about that carrying threat against Reddan.
Aki appreciates the situation too and eyeballs Heaslip even as he transfers the ball across his body to pass to O’Halloran on his left.
That slight delay for Heaslip means that when he does turn his body and head back out towards the touchline, he’s realistically already lost the race to get to O’Halloran, who obviously has more pace than the number eight.
That means that Rob Kearney, pushing up from the backfield as the threat becomes deeply apparent is left with a two-on-one to defend.
The importance of Henshaw’s initial work to get width even before Healy had caught Reddan’s box kick is obvious now as he provides the option for O’Halloran to hit on the touchline.
Heaslip does his best to get to O’Halloran and there is some communication with Kearney, as we can see below.
Heaslip could be telling Kearney that he has O’Halloran covered or he could be screaming for his fullback to hit the ball carrier. It’s not clear, but what is obvious is that the damage is already done.
Kearney is essentially in no man’s land against two defenders and O’Halloran cleverly brings the ball back into two hands to briefly shape the pass to Henshaw. Kearney buys it and slides out towards the touchline, only for O’Halloran to burst inside him.
It’s utterly clinical attack from Connacht down that left-hand channel and, impressively, there were even options for them to go right from the ruck after Healy’s break, as we see below.
Muldowney and Tom McCartney are in position to accept a pass, while AJ MacGinty is scanning wide right to assess his options in that area.
These Connacht players are always looking for solutions and they invariably find the right one.
Niyi nails it
Remarkably, Connacht’s second try originated from the same source – a poor Leinster box kick that invited Lam’s men to counter.
The kick is slightly too long, doesn’t have enough hang time and is poorly chased again, with Healy the man on the receiving end.
As for the first try, the off-the-ball work is crucial in helping Connacht to strike straight back at Leinster.
As Healy lines up the ball in the shot above, we can see that O’Halloran [yellow] and Niyi Adeolokun [blue] are already in the backfield, having been deep to cover the Leinster exit attempt.
Henshaw [purple] and Aki [green] are retreating from their midfield position in what was the frontline defence and they are both going to be essential.
Again, Aki is looking to be a nuisance off the ball in order to give the kick return time to spark.
He runs a slightly unnatural line to ensure he gets to the left of Te’o here, subtly nudging into the Leinster centre as he tracks O’Halloran.
In the clip below, we can see that the little nudge from Aki ever so slightly knocks Te’o off balance and out of stride at exactly the moment O’Halloran turns on his dart of acceleration.
It’s a very small detail from Aki but it does make a difference, the difference between Te’o getting a firm shot on O’Halloran and the Leinster centre having to stretch a little more for a tackle the Connacht fullback can offload out of.
Henshaw provides the target for O’Halloran’s offload here.
The Ireland midfielder again shows his work rate and enthusiasm to get on the ball in this instance, tracking back from the frontline to provide O’Halloran with an outlet, at the same time as allowing Adeolokun to hold the width.
We then see the creative side of Henshaw as he uses his footwork to step back inside Ringrose and Heaslip, going through the number eight’s tackle, before powering past Jordi Murphy too.
Henshaw had perhaps his finest game for Connacht yesterday and it was encouraging to see him using his footwork and offloading skills.
The 22-year-old has been almost exclusively limited to playing a battering ram role for Ireland, but he demonstrated yesterday that he can do more than that.
Henshaw returns the offload favour to O’Halloran – who has worked hard to get back to his feet in support – before the fullback cleverly feints a chip over the top to make Reddan sit off him, in turn attracting Ringrose inwards enough to be able to loft a basketball-style pass over Ringrose’s head to Aki.
Aki keeps the ball alive, flinging it behind to Marmion, who gathers on the bounce and feeds Adeolokun.
Given that Adeolokun proceeds to chip into clear space in behind Leinster, it’s worth taking a look at Rob Kearney’s involvement in this passage.
As we see above, he is in the backfield to the left as Henshaw makes his break in the middle of the pitch.
But as O’Halloran lifts the ball overhead to Aki, it suddenly looks like Connacht are going to break again in that area.
Kearney bursts up from the backfield thinking he may well have to tackle Aki, but as we can see above Ringrose has done well to pirouette back out and cover the Connacht centre.
The safe thing for Kearney to do now is back off again but instead he takes a more proactive decision as Aki releases the ball backwards to Marmion.
Kearney floods through in an attempt to level Marmion and stop the ball on him. As we can see above, he is unsuccessful in that effort as the Connacht scrum-half’s quick delivery to Adeolokun beats him.
While Luke Fitzgerald has Adeolokun covered one-on-one, with Ringrose and Reddan tracking across inside him, there is now large area of open space in behind for Adeolokun to target.
For many wings, chipping the ball here would be a low-percentage play as they wouldn’t have the required kicking skill. Connacht’s players, however, work hard on such skills and Adeolokun now has this type of kick in his armoury, as do so many of their backs.
The initial chip with his right foot is delightful from Adeolokun but his second touch is even more impressive.
The 25-year-old has a rich sporting background in Gaelic football with Templeogue Synge Street and soccer – having played for Shelbourne’s U20 side – and the second touch with his left boot demonstrates as much.
It’s a sensational finish to another superb Connacht try.
Patience pays off
Connacht’s third score was a contrast to their first two, although it did come from an intelligent and well-executed kick again.
The score comes on the 10th phase of a period of Connacht pressure inside the Leinster 22 and Lam’s men show real patience to wait for the space to appear for them.
This time, the attack stems from a Connacht turnover at the breakdown. Leinster desperately attempt to run the ball out from close to their own tryline, something they didn’t look comfortable dong, and Connacht pounce out wide.
Muldowney makes the tackle on Dave Kearney, assisted by Healy, and bounces back to his feet to contest for the ball.
That effort from Muldowney attracts both Te’o and Rob Kearney into clearing him out.
In dragging both rucking players away to the right, Muldowney opens up the space over the ball completely for Connacht and Sean O’Brien and Healy can simply step right over and take possession to launch the attack.
Over the following phases, Connacht again show work rate to move Leinster from side to side, while the likes of Bealham demonstrate their passing ability. The ball does become slow for Connacht but even with that type of possession, they find a way.
Defending is mentally and physically fatiguing and we see the effect as Henshaw switches play back to the left for MacGinty to deliver his grubber.
The key defenders for Leinster in this instance are marked above, Reddan in blue and Kearney in red.
We can see that as Henshaw is about to pass back to the left of the ruck, both Kearney in the backfield and Reddan in the sweeper position are already shaping to move away to their left to cover an attack in that direction.
The space to their right, Connacht’s left, is obvious in the shot above but even if we go back a couple of seconds, below, we can see that MacGinty is calling for the ball on the left.
MacGinty has identified already that Kearney has moved off to the right of the ruck in the backfield and he can see clear space to kick into.
There’s a delay in him getting the ball on that left side of the Connacht attack, but when he does so he makes it count.
When we review the play from behind Connacht, the area of space MacGinty picks out is obvious.
Reddan does react in the sweeper position but he’s too late in doing so and gets easily beaten by MacGinty’s perfectly-weighted grubber kick.
It’s the same story for Kearney, whose initial positioning leaves him with too much ground to cover and Healy has already gathered and dotted down by the time the Leinster fullback arrives on the scene.
Kearney appears exasperated with Reddan, throwing out his arms in frustration and certainly both Leinster players will feel they could have been better positioned and swifter to react.
The key, however, is that Connacht have fatigued Leinster up until this point and they then have the basic skill to exploit the space when it appears.
That has very much been the story of Connacht’s season.
Footage courtesy of Guinness Pro12 broadcaster Sky Sports.
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“If everyone was fit at the start of the Six Nations you definitely wouldn’t have picked that backline but Ford, Watson and Joseph have all been excellent. Ford controls the team so well and Joseph has been fantastic so far.”
This quote brings to mind the benefits of picking players in the position they play week in week out for their clubs.
Haskell is 3-1 to run head-long as fast as he can into one of the posts again. Free money!
The guys who are lighting up the 6 nations wouldn’t even get picked if they were full strength.
Strength in depth or a head coach who can’t pick his best 15 players?
Heaslip will be a huge loss against England. Jordi Murphy isn’t good enough for this kind of test. I think the best option is Henderson, O Mahoney and O Brien at 8.
O’Brien has only played 8 once for Ireland, I think you’d be more likely to see POM move to 8 then SOB – but it won’t happen. Joe likes his structures and it makes more sense from a squad perspective for one natural 8 to drop in and replace another.
It’s a pity though because I would love to see that backrow, Henderson is something else.
Is there anything to be said for bringing on Madigan for Payne after 60 mins for the Sextón, Madigan, Henshaw axis we all want to see? Payne has been great in defence but he’s not gelling with Sextón fast enough.
I dont want to see that trio against England.
Let me guess? Keatley, JJ and Earls would be your pick? ;)
Nothing to do with any alleged pro munster bias more to do with Madigans weakness in defense.Leave Payne at 12.
I don’t want to see that trio ever, I don’t want to see Madigan on an international pitch as I don’t think he’s anywhere near that standard of player so please speak for yourself.
@Fecky Din: Madigan is a good defender, he has proven that. That statement is simply made because you don’t like him, and/or he is a pretty boy. The stats don’t lie however. He is solid in defence.
@Stuart: The problem with that trio is that Henshaw is an unbelievable 12 and we have plenty of good 13′s. Payne, Earls, McFadden, Cave and Fitzgerald. Then there is the fact that 10 cover isn’t that great, with only Madigan and Keatley at the moment. Personally I’d pick Earls/Fitzgerald, but we can’t deny Payne has been doing a good job
Lovely reasoned comment and a beautiful name. We should all strive to be more like young Rudiger here!
Back to my point, I’m not saying Madigan should start. I think Payne is a less risky option. But when the game needs to be won in the last quarter you need to take a calculate risk at a game breaker. Payne hasn’t been as electric for Ireland compared to where he had loads of space at 15 in the Pro12. Granted neither has Madigan but we got a glimpse of his vision in the perfect pass to TOD against Italy who admittedly scored when he had no right to!
Why would I want to see 3arls playing in the Centre or why in Gods name would I have Keatley instead of an on fire Sexton? Are you insane? Straight in with the provincial cr@pology. Grow up, its Ireland.
Captain Craic!
As long as Earls isn’t playing 12 or 13 then it will be fine.
Payne doesn’t play 12 !!!!
Utter nonsense – you know absolutely nothing about rugby if you can’t see the obvious talent of Madigan – you may not like his personality but his talent is undeniable. Just a really silly comment
I never said he’d no talent. He is, however, pretty much untested at test level and as for throwing him in at 12 against England, why? Henshaw and Payne are rock solid defensively and with space will prosper in attack. Madigan isn’t as good defensively as either IMO. As for my knowledge on rugby, you may be right. I might know nothing. Madigans personality is not my affair or business, as an Ireland fan I do not want him at 12 V England.
I agree with Patrick! A lot is said for picking players who play week in week out in a position
Luke Fitz deserves his go at 13… That man of the match performance v Wasps showed how good he can be
Would ya stop. Biggest game of the tourno and throw in an untested player at a position he hasn’t held down since underage, madness.
“Untested” Lions test starter with a grand slam and 3 Heineken Cup medals in his pocket?
More experience at 13 than Payne!
Playing right into our hands if everyone keeps tipping the English. . Ireland better as the underdogs backs to the wall (hopefully)
England look OK – but only in the second half of the matches they have played so far.
Thoughts on Jordi Murphy??
Lovely hair
I can show you plenty of examples of his dynamism in attack. Have you got any examples of his weakness in defence? He’s the only way we are scoring trying against England. Luke and Earls are playing well too. We won’t beat England with penalties…
There is nothing to be said for it, the chap makes me nervous when he leaves the bench to warm up or even hand out water, his decision making is poor, his ability to control a game is poor, he came on as a blood replacement for sexton during the French game and twice he dragged our backline out of shape as he didn’t know whether he was playing 10 or 12
Nah…he was solid when he came on. Slotted his penalty with confidence. Worked a great wrapped around to get an attack goin on a penalty advantage and if Heaslip had off loaded the pass in the tackle back to him he’d have set the backs up for a score out wide. I think he’s been black listed cause of one shite wolfhounds night and that’s really unfair
This team is built around solid defence and unfortunately for earls because he is a great attacking player. He simply isn’t strong enough in defence to warrant a place in the squad.
And Jones…
To be honest Ireland are the form team. Lets not lose sight of that fact and making others favourites as usual.
Why is it that just before any championship whether its football or rugby or whatever, even though England doesn’t have good form, suddenly they can win it. Ireland are the form team and that is a fact.
You can’t deny that England look good for the tournament so far.
But I think Joe Schmidt is too smart a coach for anyone to be convinced.
I have faith for Sunday week and if we win – I’m predicting Ireland 16 England 11 – and then it’s ours to lose.
COYBIG!!!!!!!!!!!!