CONNACHT’S BONUS-POINT WIN away to Brive in the Challenge Cup looks like coming with a big price with lock Gavin Thornbury and number eight Paul Boyle picking up what are feared to be serious injuries.
Director of rugby Andy Friend said both players will need to be assessed when they arrive back in Galway on Saturday afternoon amid fears they could be sidelined for some time after the 31-24 win at Stade Amédée-Domenech .
“They both didn’t look too good,” was Friend’s immediate post-match assessment. “They will be assessed when they get back home and we will see from there.”
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Boyle, captain on the night and playing some great rugby recently, suffered a shoulder injury in a double hit from Brive props Daniel Brennan and former Connacht tighthead Tietie Tuimauga in the opening half.
Thornbury, whose career at Connacht has been blighted by a series of injuries, suffered a suspected dislocated kneecap just before the break. He was attended to by medics for several minutes on the field before being stretchered off during the interval.
By then, Connacht were 21-3 in front after their former number eight Abraham Papali’i, who was red-carded three times in nine months during his term at the Sportsground, was sent off for a high tackle, while Brive also had two players binned either side of the break.
Tries from David Hawkshaw, Tom Daly, Diarmuid Kilgallen and Shane Delahunt pushed them 28-3 in front but they had to withstand a late rally from Brive who got the gap down to a converted try five minutes from time.
“The most important thing is we came over to France, got the win, got the five points against their strongest team,” added Friend.
We definitely could have been better but we got the job done and we move on.
“We had a lot of frontline players rested so for those guys to come here and for most of them to have their first experience in France, with the crowd against them getting upset with the referee, and to get a bonus point win is good for them. The depth of the squad continues to grow.”
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Thornbury and Boyle serious injury concerns as Connacht win comes at a price
CONNACHT’S BONUS-POINT WIN away to Brive in the Challenge Cup looks like coming with a big price with lock Gavin Thornbury and number eight Paul Boyle picking up what are feared to be serious injuries.
Director of rugby Andy Friend said both players will need to be assessed when they arrive back in Galway on Saturday afternoon amid fears they could be sidelined for some time after the 31-24 win at Stade Amédée-Domenech .
“They both didn’t look too good,” was Friend’s immediate post-match assessment. “They will be assessed when they get back home and we will see from there.”
Boyle, captain on the night and playing some great rugby recently, suffered a shoulder injury in a double hit from Brive props Daniel Brennan and former Connacht tighthead Tietie Tuimauga in the opening half.
Thornbury, whose career at Connacht has been blighted by a series of injuries, suffered a suspected dislocated kneecap just before the break. He was attended to by medics for several minutes on the field before being stretchered off during the interval.
By then, Connacht were 21-3 in front after their former number eight Abraham Papali’i, who was red-carded three times in nine months during his term at the Sportsground, was sent off for a high tackle, while Brive also had two players binned either side of the break.
Tries from David Hawkshaw, Tom Daly, Diarmuid Kilgallen and Shane Delahunt pushed them 28-3 in front but they had to withstand a late rally from Brive who got the gap down to a converted try five minutes from time.
“The most important thing is we came over to France, got the win, got the five points against their strongest team,” added Friend.
“We had a lot of frontline players rested so for those guys to come here and for most of them to have their first experience in France, with the crowd against them getting upset with the referee, and to get a bonus point win is good for them. The depth of the squad continues to grow.”
Get instant updates on your province on The42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Amlin Challenge Cup Connacht Injury Report Rugby Brive