Connacht 21
Sale Sharks 5
John Fallon reports from Dexcom Stadium
THE NEW STAND at Dexcom Stadium is starting to reach for the skies and Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins is hopeful that progress on the field is also taking place as he builds a squad for the start of the new season.
Bright sunshine provided the backdrop as fans got their first glimpse of the new €40m development work which will see the high performance centre completed by next March with the opening of the new stand being hoped for around Christmas 2025.
It was typical preseason fare, both sides using multiple replacements having introduced a string of new players who came in over the summer as Connacht used 30 players and Sale 28.
Inevitably, there was a lot of disjointed play with loads of scrums, but this allowed both packs plenty of opportunity to get their set-piece right ahead of the start of the real business.
The fixture was notable that three sets of brothers — Matthew and John Devine, Darragh and Niall Murray, and David and Daniel Hawkshaw — played in this game for Connacht.
Connacht, with new signing from Bristol Piers O’Connor impressing at full-back and Shayne Bolton full of strong running down the right, led 14-0 at the break with Sale’s woeful lineout preventing them from building momentum.
It took Connacht some time as well to get motoring but they scored off their fifth penalty when hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin got over after a penalty lineout down the left.
Jack Carty added the extras from the left and he also created the second try five minutes from the break after a strong run down the left from Irish U-20 Hugh Gavin, with Conor Oliver taking the inside pass from Carty to score another converted try.
Both sides continued to experiment after the restart, with Sale getting back in contention with a good breakaway move which was finished by powerful Fijian centre Waisea Nayacalevu after 59 minutes, with George Ford unable to master the increasing Sportsground wind with the conversion.
Sale were more willing to throw the ball wide in the second half but with Connacht newcomers David O’Connor and Ben Murphy, along with academy players Fiachna Barrett, John Devine and Daniel Hawkshaw having their moments, the Premiership side struggled to create scoring chances.
Connacht, with Cathal Forde moving to out-half after Jack Carty went off, finished the game strongly with Ben Murphy crowning his debut with a try in the left corner after a looping pass from Colm Reilly two minutes from the end. Forde added the conversion from the left.
Scorers:
Connacht: Tries: D Tierney-Martin, C Oiliver, B Murphy. Cons: J Carty (2), C Forde.
Sale Sharks: Try: W Nayacalevu
Connacht: Piers O’Connor; Shayne Bolton, Byron Ralston, Cathal Forde, Hugh Gavin; Jack Carty, Matthew Devine; Peter Dooley, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Sam Illo; Joe Joyce (c), Darragh Murray; Josh Murphy, Conor Oliver, Sean Jansen.
Replacements used:
Denis Buckley, Temi Lasisi, Adam McBurney, Jack Aungier, Fiachna Barrett, Niall Murray, Oisin Dowling, David O’Connor, Oisin McCormack, Paul Boyle, Ben Murphy, Colm Reilly, John Devine, David Hawkshaw, Daniel Hawkshaw.
Sale Sharks: Will Addison, Tom O’Flaherty, Waisea Nayacalevu, Rob du Preez, Arron Reed, George Ford, Raffi Quirke, Simon McIntyre, Tommy Taylor, James Harper, Le Roux Roets, Ernst van Rhyn, Sam Dugdale, Ben Curry (c), Jean-Luc du Preez.
Replacements used:
Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tumy Onasanya, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Ben Bamber, Tom Burrow, Rouban Birch, Tristan Woodman, Gus Warr, Tom Curtis, Sam Bedlow, Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, Tom Roebuck, Alex Wills.
Referee: Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU).
