Challenge Cup Pool Three/Connacht 15 Brive 22:Connacht's season rests on the domestic league now. At half-time here last night, it looked as if the Cinderella province would be flying the Tricolour in Europe regardless of what happened in today's marquee match down in Limerick.
They trailed by just three points and had the notorious Sportsground wind at their backs as they marched out for the second half. Within 90 seconds, Adrian Flavin had won a penalty, rumbling into the Brive 22 and forcing the Frenchmen into fouling on contact.
Andy Dunne restored parity and the home crowd, in fine voice, braced themselves for one of the giant-killing nights for which this team has slowly forged a reputation.
But it never happened. Gone are the days when French teams landed here in January, shivered in dismay at the muck and the rain and the lousy delicatessens before deciding that, all in all, this was a nightmare not worth pursuing.
Brive played textbook stuff into the wind for the 25 minutes that the match hung in the balance and for all of Connacht's abrasiveness, they could do little more than watch and desperately regroup as the Frenchman moved the ball wide, took it into contact with assurance and support and took whatever was on. The patience and composure they showed was a painful lesson for Connacht to absorb.
Brive worked 11 phases before substitute prop Jawad Djoudi embarked on a one-metre dash for the critical try in the 61st minute, the pack taking up residence deep in the Connacht 22 and all but whistling like workmen as they went about recycling the ball seemingly at will.
The game was still there for Connacht at this stage but they seemed snookered by the clever French alignment, with outhalf Maxime Petitjean dropping deep with fullback Barry Davies and making it very difficult for Dunne to get any range or angle with his kicking.
Connacht couldn't get their hands on the ball enough to try and get their own running game going, and when they did they could not match the French team for incisiveness and imagination.
With nine minutes remaining, Brive had achieved another march toward the Connacht line, Petitjean finding touch with a penalty, and then Brive moved it smartly, the outhalf flicking a sweet inside pass to Suka Hufanga, who strode home under the posts.
Petitjean - a slender, knock-kneed and classy footballer - banged over the penalty. At 22-8 in the last 10 minutes, the home sting had been surgically removed.
It must have been a shocking turnaround for the home team to behold. In the first half, they bossed the scrum, were accurate in the lineout and had a bundle of possession.
They had a wonderful start, Gavin Duffy lighting the ground up with some brilliant counterattacks from fullback and Andrew Farley and Dunne setting Matt Mostyn up for a 25th-minute try - the first score of the match.
The old habits of maybe trying to do too much in tight corners and losing possession in contact were there, but the bread-and-butter stuff set them up nicely.
The wind was impossible, as evidenced when Dunne tried to bend a 39th-minute penalty with the kind of swerve more readily associated with David Beckham.
Connacht trailed 8-5 by this stage, far from an unfavourable position given that Brive were playing with the gale that blew out toward Lough Atalia. Still, it could have been better.
The French try was pure opportunism: in broken play Dunne, mindful of the wind, fired a bullet pass that ricocheted off Michael Swift's shoulder.
By the time Connacht knew what was happening, Farid Sid was sprinting for his try in the corner. Petitjean's conversion was beautifully struck but met the far post.
Brive had the luxury of removing Petitjean with five minutes remaining.
The desperate circumstances seemed to cause Connacht to relax enough to play with something resembling the conviction they have shown here over the past two months, and with Andrew Farley, Robbie Morris and Johnny O'Connor bashing into the Brive line, they made sufficient ground for Conor McPhillips to squirm over for a try.
Dunne nailed the conversion, and six minutes into injury-time Connacht continued to batter away, coming within five yards of the line before the Brive pack gave the Galway crowd an exhibition in rucking to kill the clock.
Afterwards, the visitors celebrated, well aware that several of their compatriot teams had foundered at this particular outpost.
CONNACHT:G Duffy: M Mostyn; D Riordan, M Deane, A Wynne; A Dunne, C O'Loughlin (C Mc Phillips, 50 mins); B Wilkinson, A Flavin, R Morris; M Swift (D Gannon, 54 mins), A Farley; M McCarthy (R Ofisa, 62 mins), J O'Connor; C Rigney.
BRIVE:B Davies; F Sid, R Cooke, S Hufanga, N Le Roux; M Petitjean (Dambielle, 75 mins), G Mahe; P Toderasc, JP Bonrepaux (J Djoudi, half-time), F Capdevielle (A Bordoy, 43 mins); B Mika, C Van Rensburg; A Manta, J Bonvoisin; S Azoulai (V Forgues, 61 mins).
Referee: P Allen( Scotland).
