Connacht 62 Caerphilly 0
Connacht cruised into the Celtic League quarter-finals this afternoon with a nine-try demolition of Pool B whipping boys Caerphilly.
Connacht had to win by 42 points to guarantee their progress into the next stage, a massive target they reached comfortably. The win leaves them second, behind Munster,in their group and gives home advantage for their quarter-final match.
A second-half hat-trick by Wayne Munn on the Connacht wing sealed the victory as the Caerphilly defence was torn shreds at the Sportsgrtound.
And the try of the day came from hooker Marnus Uijs, who scored after an interception in first-half injury-time. It was one of the few occasions when Caerphilly were actually pressing and looking dangerous.
Eric Elwood was impressive with the boot and he converted seven of the nine tries adding a penalty.
From the moment Connacht took the lead after five minutes through a try by flanker Johnny O'Connor who later scored a second it was pretty plain for all to see they would win at a canter.
They dominated all phases of play and looked far sharper. Connacht led 17-0 at half-time through tries by O'Connor, Des Dillon and Uijs but in the second half it was a case of total domination.
Yesterday, Leinster, Munster and Ulster all rubber-stamped their passages into the quarter-finals. The four Irish teams finished first and second in both Pool A and Pool B.
Connacht: G. Duffy, McPhail, Yapp, Allnutt, Munn, Elwood, Reddan, McFarland, Uijs, Bracken, Frost, A. Maher, Neville, D. Dillon, J. O'Connor. Replacements: McCormack, Kearns, Burke, Charlie, Keane, Ferris, Duignan.
Caerphilly: J. Thomas, Greenslade-Jones, G. Evans, Hawkins, Morris, Lawrence, Jacobs, A. Jones, Colclough, Marston, N. Jones, N. Watkins, D. Davies, B. Watkins, Buckingham. Replacements: Chiltern, Richards, Gereaghty, Tuipulotu, Fitzpatrick, G. Jones, Workman. Referee: Steve Leyshon