CONNACHT GAVE THEMSELVES an uphill task against Wasps as their lineout imploded, and the Premiership side duly notched a try-scoring bonus boint in a 32-17 victory in Coventry.
Joe Launchbury celebrates his try for Wasps. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
In front of a crowd of 13,364 people, a 64% return on Tom McCartney’s throw was hugely damaging for Connacht, with the Kiwi hooker looking like a broken man when he was replaced in the second half.
Missing Andrew Browne through injury, Quinn Roux and Ultan Dillane – neither of them frontline lineout callers – were tasked with running the Connacht set-piece and the calling was poor.
Despite the lack of platform, Connacht did manage to score tries through Kieran Marmion and Rory Parata, but their ruck work was poor and they made intermittent handling errors to stymy attacking flow.
A 60% return off the tee did not help either, with Jack Carty missing a first-half penalty that he should have slotted, as well as a more difficult effort in the second 40 minutes. That miss would have made the game 20-20 heading into the final quarter of the game, but instead Wasps went on to finish strongly.
Dai Young’s men were clinical and efficient in securing their bonus point, with tries from the brilliant Joe Launchbury – who should have been man of the match – and wing Josh Bassett adding to earlier five pointers from Kurtley Beale and Nathan Hughes.
The defeat, without a losing bonus point, is hugely disappointing for Connacht after their earlier Pool 2 wins over Toulouse and Zebre, and Pat Lam will now have to lift their spirits for the return leg against Wasps at the Sportsground next Saturday.
While debutant Beale – the official man of the match – had an ideal start to his Wasps debut, Connacht outside centre Stacey Ili endured a nightmare opening to his first European start in the 13 shirt.
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Beale scored a debut try and was sin binned inside the opening quarter. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
His pass was picked off by Bassett in the Wasps’ 22 to end early Connacht pressure, before Ili came in the side of a ruck to concede a penalty that the home team kicked to within five metres.
From the resulting passage of direct attack, it was Ili’s tackle attempt that Beale darted through for an eight-minute try, converted by Jimmy Gopperth.
Connacht’s lineout was badly misfiring already, but a failure to release in the tackle allowed Jack Carty a shot at goal, only for the Connacht out-half to miss a very kickable shot from left of the posts.
Carty did better in the 19th minute, slotting the three points after Beale’s dream start was shattered by an extremely harsh yellow card for a high tackle on Niyi Adeolokun, who feel down into Beale’s arm.
Another lineout fail from Connacht eventually resulted in Gopperth extending Wasps’ lead out to 10-3, but Pat Lam’s men knew they needed to take advantage of the absence of Beale by drawing level.
They did so only minutes later, after Thomas Young knocked-on their restart. Although the scrum was unsteady, captain John Muldoon picked skillfully and surged into the tackle of the slow-moving Ashley Johnson, getting his hands free to offload up to Kieran Marmion, who burst past the despairing Dan Robson to score from 15 metres out.
Carty converted for 10-10, but Connacht failed to push on from that score, producing a frustrating series of errors and allowing Wasps to re-take the lead before the break, Gopperth on target with the penalty after Connacht went off their feet at ruck time.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Connacht’s start to the second half was as poor as had been the case for the first, with their malfunctioning lineout again doing damage.
A break down the left from Cian Kelleher had seen him ignore Marmion inside, then Adeolokun’s pass was intercepted by Bassett, before Denis Buckley went off his feet to give up a penalty.
From the resulting lineout maul, Johnson burst away to the left to bring Wasps to within two metres, then powerful number eight Nathan Hughes did well to spin and power his way through O’Halloran for Wasps’ second try, again converted by Gopperth.
20-10 ahead, Wasps would have felt they could pull clear, but Connacht showed opportunism again. Just two minutes after Hughes’ score, replacement centre Rory Parata – on for Ili just before half time – picked off a loose Gopperth pass and streaked clear from 30 metres out to dot down, allowing Carty to make it 20-17.
Their tails now up, Connacht began to attack in more familiar fashion, with Matt Healy – on for the injured O’Halloran – showing his footwork and pace. Connacht’s scrum began to have a more telling impact too, providing Lam’s men with opportunities to kick into fine attacking positions.
But twice Joe Launchbury frustrated them with breakdown turnover penalties.
However, Nepia Fox-Matamua produced a superb midfield turnover to allow Parata to free Adeolokun up the right with a one-handed offload, and Wasps came offside at the next ruck around the 60 minute mark.
Replacement Rory Parata bursts away for his second-half try. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
But Carty was wide to the right of the posts from around 35 metres out.
Seemingly spurred on by that close call, Wasps stepped up a gear and began to offload freely out of the tackle. Beale made big metres in midfield after Healy was loose in contact, before Dai Young’s men swept the ball left, where Gopperth’s excellent miss pass found Launchbury galloping into a huge hole to finish from 20 metres out.
Gopperth converted and Wasps went all out to secure the bonus-point try. It arrived in the 73rd minute, with sharps hands from Gopperth and Beale freeing the outstanding Bassett to score in the left corner.
Work to do for Connacht.
Wasps scorers:
Tries:Kurtley Beale, Nathan Hughes, Joe Launchbury, Josh Bassett
Conversions:Jimmy Gopperth [3 from 4]
Penalties:Jimmy Gopperth [2 from 2]
Connacht scorers:
Tries:Kieran Marmion, Rory Parata
Conversions:Jack Carty [2 from 2]
Penalties:Jack Carty [1 from 3]
WASPS: Rob Miller; Christian Wade, Alapati Leiua (Brendan Macken ’49), Kurtley Beale (yellow card ’18) (Frank Halai ’74), Josh Bassett; Jimmy Gopperth, Dan Robson (Joe Simpson ’61); Matt Mullan (Tom Bristow ’74), Tommy Taylor (Alex Rieder ’74), Marty Moore (Jake Cooper-Woolley’54); Joe Launchbury (captain), Kearnan Myall (James Gaskell ’67); Ashley Johnson, Thomas Young (Guy Thompson ’67), Nathan Hughes.
Lam's Connacht left empty handed in frustrating defeat to Wasps
Wasps 32
Connacht 17
Murray Kinsella reports from the Ricoh Arena
CONNACHT GAVE THEMSELVES an uphill task against Wasps as their lineout imploded, and the Premiership side duly notched a try-scoring bonus boint in a 32-17 victory in Coventry.
In front of a crowd of 13,364 people, a 64% return on Tom McCartney’s throw was hugely damaging for Connacht, with the Kiwi hooker looking like a broken man when he was replaced in the second half.
Missing Andrew Browne through injury, Quinn Roux and Ultan Dillane – neither of them frontline lineout callers – were tasked with running the Connacht set-piece and the calling was poor.
Despite the lack of platform, Connacht did manage to score tries through Kieran Marmion and Rory Parata, but their ruck work was poor and they made intermittent handling errors to stymy attacking flow.
A 60% return off the tee did not help either, with Jack Carty missing a first-half penalty that he should have slotted, as well as a more difficult effort in the second 40 minutes. That miss would have made the game 20-20 heading into the final quarter of the game, but instead Wasps went on to finish strongly.
Dai Young’s men were clinical and efficient in securing their bonus point, with tries from the brilliant Joe Launchbury – who should have been man of the match – and wing Josh Bassett adding to earlier five pointers from Kurtley Beale and Nathan Hughes.
The defeat, without a losing bonus point, is hugely disappointing for Connacht after their earlier Pool 2 wins over Toulouse and Zebre, and Pat Lam will now have to lift their spirits for the return leg against Wasps at the Sportsground next Saturday.
While debutant Beale – the official man of the match – had an ideal start to his Wasps debut, Connacht outside centre Stacey Ili endured a nightmare opening to his first European start in the 13 shirt.
His pass was picked off by Bassett in the Wasps’ 22 to end early Connacht pressure, before Ili came in the side of a ruck to concede a penalty that the home team kicked to within five metres.
From the resulting passage of direct attack, it was Ili’s tackle attempt that Beale darted through for an eight-minute try, converted by Jimmy Gopperth.
Connacht’s lineout was badly misfiring already, but a failure to release in the tackle allowed Jack Carty a shot at goal, only for the Connacht out-half to miss a very kickable shot from left of the posts.
Carty did better in the 19th minute, slotting the three points after Beale’s dream start was shattered by an extremely harsh yellow card for a high tackle on Niyi Adeolokun, who feel down into Beale’s arm.
Another lineout fail from Connacht eventually resulted in Gopperth extending Wasps’ lead out to 10-3, but Pat Lam’s men knew they needed to take advantage of the absence of Beale by drawing level.
They did so only minutes later, after Thomas Young knocked-on their restart. Although the scrum was unsteady, captain John Muldoon picked skillfully and surged into the tackle of the slow-moving Ashley Johnson, getting his hands free to offload up to Kieran Marmion, who burst past the despairing Dan Robson to score from 15 metres out.
Carty converted for 10-10, but Connacht failed to push on from that score, producing a frustrating series of errors and allowing Wasps to re-take the lead before the break, Gopperth on target with the penalty after Connacht went off their feet at ruck time.
Connacht’s start to the second half was as poor as had been the case for the first, with their malfunctioning lineout again doing damage.
A break down the left from Cian Kelleher had seen him ignore Marmion inside, then Adeolokun’s pass was intercepted by Bassett, before Denis Buckley went off his feet to give up a penalty.
From the resulting lineout maul, Johnson burst away to the left to bring Wasps to within two metres, then powerful number eight Nathan Hughes did well to spin and power his way through O’Halloran for Wasps’ second try, again converted by Gopperth.
20-10 ahead, Wasps would have felt they could pull clear, but Connacht showed opportunism again. Just two minutes after Hughes’ score, replacement centre Rory Parata – on for Ili just before half time – picked off a loose Gopperth pass and streaked clear from 30 metres out to dot down, allowing Carty to make it 20-17.
Their tails now up, Connacht began to attack in more familiar fashion, with Matt Healy – on for the injured O’Halloran – showing his footwork and pace. Connacht’s scrum began to have a more telling impact too, providing Lam’s men with opportunities to kick into fine attacking positions.
But twice Joe Launchbury frustrated them with breakdown turnover penalties.
However, Nepia Fox-Matamua produced a superb midfield turnover to allow Parata to free Adeolokun up the right with a one-handed offload, and Wasps came offside at the next ruck around the 60 minute mark.
But Carty was wide to the right of the posts from around 35 metres out.
Seemingly spurred on by that close call, Wasps stepped up a gear and began to offload freely out of the tackle. Beale made big metres in midfield after Healy was loose in contact, before Dai Young’s men swept the ball left, where Gopperth’s excellent miss pass found Launchbury galloping into a huge hole to finish from 20 metres out.
Gopperth converted and Wasps went all out to secure the bonus-point try. It arrived in the 73rd minute, with sharps hands from Gopperth and Beale freeing the outstanding Bassett to score in the left corner.
Work to do for Connacht.
WASPS: Rob Miller; Christian Wade, Alapati Leiua (Brendan Macken ’49), Kurtley Beale (yellow card ’18) (Frank Halai ’74), Josh Bassett; Jimmy Gopperth, Dan Robson (Joe Simpson ’61); Matt Mullan (Tom Bristow ’74), Tommy Taylor (Alex Rieder ’74), Marty Moore (Jake Cooper-Woolley’54); Joe Launchbury (captain), Kearnan Myall (James Gaskell ’67); Ashley Johnson, Thomas Young (Guy Thompson ’67), Nathan Hughes.
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran (Matt Healy ’46); Niyi Adeolokun, Stacey Ili (Rory Parata ’38), Bundee Aki, Cian Kelleher (Caolin Blade ’51); Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley (JP Cooney ’74), Tom McCartney (Dave Heffernan ’67), Conor Carey (Finlay Bealham ’45); Ultan Dillan, Quinn Roux (Sean O’Brien ’61); Nepia Fox-Matamua, Jake Heenan (Eoin McKeon ’45), John Muldoon (captain).
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz [FFR].
Attendance: 13,364.
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