CONNACHT HEAD COACH Pete Wilkins has urged new out-half Josh Ioane to keep going for the jugular despite missing touch with penalties in three of their five games this season.
The 29-year old, capped once by the All Blacks, has started four of Connacht’s five URC games this season.
But while he kicked penalties dead against Munster, Ulster and Leinster after going for maximum distance, Wilkins said he wants him to continue to be brave.
“That whole kicking game, Josh is having to adapt to in terms of the weather conditions up here,” said Wilkins.
“It’s not simply the wind that affects how far you can kick the ball or kicking across the wind but it affects the drop of the ball onto your foot. For kickers, it’s such a small margin for error. Depending on the type of ball drop you have you can leave yourself more exposed to the conditions.
“It’s something Josh is having to work really hard on, he’s doing a tremendous amount of work with that, the growth is there. The unfortunate thing is that it’s shown up a couple of times in those missed kicks to touch from penalties.
“The important bit from my end is that I keep encouraging him to be positive with it and be brave with it. We’d rather aim for the five-metre line in our kicks into the 22 to give us that scoring opportunity, rather than be too cautious. We want to go for it in every sense of the game.
“There’s still a balance, that’s something he’s coming to terms with,” added Wilkins.
Meanwhile, Wilkins said that former captain Jack Carty remains in his plans despite coming under pressure last season from JJ Hanrahan for the out-half position and this term Ioane.
The 32-year old, Connacht’s record points scorer after 213 games with the province, has only played against the Scarlets this season when Ioane was injured.
But Wilkins said Carty has dealt with the situation well and that the Roscommon native is always in their selection calls.
“He’s dealt with it fantastically well,” added Wilkins. “You know the quality of Jack as a human being and how much the club means to him. He’s taken everything in his stride and just applied himself to helping those who are selected, especially Josh but also keeps trying to improve his own game and polish what he does well.
“His training form has been excellent, he’s a key part of our discussions in terms of how we play the game each week and although he’s not got the captaincy he’s a key member of our group and he continues to affect in that way. He’s always in discussion selection-wise and certainly hasn’t put a foot wrong in that sense.”
Connacht will hope to make it three wins from six in the URC this season heading into the November break when they take on the Dragons at Dexcom Stadium on Saturday night with Mack Hansen expected to be back from a hip injury for the game.
