CHALLENGE CUP/Quarter-final, second leg: Pontypridd will take a five-point advantage into the second leg of their Challenge Cup quarter-final against Connacht at Sardis Road this evening. The job for the Welsh side is only half completed, a fact recognised in Connacht's performance by most of the 5,000 crowd, who flocked to watch last week's match in Athlone.
The Welsh Cup holders won that thrilling encounter 35-30 but lost centre pairing Sonny Parker and Johnny Bryant to injury in the first half and as a result Pontypridd coach Lynn Howells has had to rearrange his back line.
Outhalf Ceri Sweeney moves to inside centre, while youngster Shaun James slots in at outside centre. Both players acquitted themselves well when introduced at Ericsson Park. Howells has also altered the balance of the backrow unit, with Richard Parks moving over to blindside flanker and Wayne O'Connor drafted in on the openside.
Connacht will have seen on video that many silly mistakes put them on the back foot in a match that was well within their grasp. There is just one significant change in the Connacht line-up with John O'Sullivan coming into the back row at number eight and Colm Rigney moving to blindside flanker.
Despite the defeat Connacht have much to look at positively. Wayne Munn provided a particularly sharp cutting edge on the left flank and was rewarded with two tries in the final 10 minutes, while the yardage runners, who came from both the pack and the back line, were capable of gaining significant territory with most surges.
Obviously the infringements that allowed Pontypridd outhalf Neil Jenkins to punish the young side so harshly will have to be curtailed, while the ability of Pontypridd to attack with verve from full back and out wide will continue to be a constant danger to the visitors. Emyr Lewis, Gareth Wyatt and Brett Davey were a menace whenever given space and time. Pontypridd's counter-attacks also provided some particularly threatening moments.
"It's far from a dead tie," said Connacht coach Steph Nel during the week. "We have got everything to play for and we will have the same attitude we had in Athlone - to go all out to win the game and let things like points difference and try counts take care of themselves.
"It was four tries apiece in the first leg and I feel we wasted a couple of other scoring opportunities while they capitalised on our mistakes."
That said Connacht will throw the ball around. As a development team they are young and light compared to most of their opposition and in a sense are forced to play a particular brand of open running rugby. To Nel's credit that almost worked at the Buccaneers' ground.
"The biggest positive is that we got a result away against one of the Irish provinces," said Howells. "They caught us a bit by surprise by spreading the ball wide so much."
That's what Connacht will have to do again in hostile territory. They came back from a 40-0 pasting by Ponty in the Celtic League to come within five points. They must now clear a smaller deficit but the push will be harder for five points and a place in the semi-final than it ever was for 40 points.
CONNACHT: M McHugh; G Duffy, D Yapp, S Moore (capt.), W Munn; E Elwood, E Reddan; R McCormack, J Flannery, P Bracken; D Browne, R Frost; C Rigney, J O'Sullivan, J O'Connor. Replacements: D McFarland, M Uijs, M Swift, E Peters, C Keane, J Norton, T Robinson.
PONTYPRIDD: B Davey; G Wyatt, S James, C Sweeney, E Lewis; N Jenkins, P John; G Jenkins, M Davies (capt.), D Bell, B Cockbain, R Sidoli, R Parks, W O'Connor, G Lewis. Relacements: J Lewis, M Nuthall, Baber; N Hennessy, M Rees; M Owen, N Kelly.
Previous meetings: (Celtic League) Connacht 0, Pontypridd 40; (Challenge Cup) Connacht 30, Pontypridd 35.
Challenge Cup Formguide: Connacht 23, Narbonne 7; Narbonne 42, Connacht 27; Connacht 47, Mont de Marsan 29; Mont de Marsan 12 Connacht 26; Connacht 30, Pontypridd 35.
Leading try scorer: (Connacht) W Munn-5, (Pontypridd) G Wyatt 6. Leading points scorers: (Connacht) E Elwood 54; (Pontypridd) B Davey 18.
Referee: C White (Eng).
Verdict: Pontypridd to advance.
