The west is awake and all that. Connacht yesterday scaled new heights with a record-breaking nine-try win over their hapless Welsh visitors, thereby ensuring a fourth home quarter-final for the Irish provinces. Keeping the competition's whipping boys until a day after everyone else had completed their games was a cute stroke but Connacht still had a job to do. In doing so they demonstrated a new-found cutting edge.
Set a target of 42-0 or better, Connacht kept their discipline and their focus.
Rejecting three-pointers at goal from the opening minutes they were only 7-0 up approaching the half-hour mark and 12-0 ahead moving into first-half injury time.
Ultimately, though, Caerphilly caved in, four sin binnings for various acts of thuggery amply showing what little they brought to the party, and Connacht accounted for exactly half their points with a last quarter flurry of four tries; Wayne Munn scorching in for a hat-trick and Eric Elwood bisecting the posts from every angle.
It undoubtedly helped Connacht that they knew exactly what they had to do, and while Cardiff would assuredly have been knocked out anyway, Neath may feel aggrieved that yesterday's outcome denied them a home quarter-final. But given Connacht actually won the sides' head-to-head meeting whereas they themselves lost their final two games, Neath can have few complaints really.
Connacht haven't had it so good since the Warren Gatland revolution four seasons ago. Credit for this renaissance must go to the more dogged Connacht officials who battled for the cause, the more open-minded IRFU officials who relented from the destructive course set by others, and of course, Steph Nel and the players.
Connacht's South African coach couldn't have looked prouder if he'd just emerged from the maternity ward with a new baby in his arms. "I'm so proud. I'm probably the proudest coach in the whole wide world today."
Nel had informed the players of the 42-point equation beforehand but stressed the importance of securing the win first and foremost.
"Especially with (their captain) Mark McConnell having pulled out the night before, I was nervous about this game. Not so much because of what Caerphilly had but because they had nothing to lose coming here," confided Nel, who also thought Connacht lacked a bit of gas in the first-half.
Playing their third game in nine days, and not having the resources of the other provinces to rotate their squad, this concern was valid. But the bedrock of this season's improvement has been the best defence in the Celtic League. Pushing up into Caerphilly's faces from the opening phases they forced a turnover penalty when Johnny O'Connor drove prop Aled Jones back behind the gain line. The nil part would remain important to the equation.
Within another minute Connacht notified their sun-drenched supporters of their intent by opting for a lineout instead of a close-range kickable penalty into the breeze. Two mauls were held up before Darren Yapp took the ball up in the outhalf channel. His ball presentation was the key as Johnny O'Connor picked up and dived over.
Elwood was soon even moving it wide from inside their own 22 for Gavin Duffy to show his class when hitting the line. But it was set-piece and maul pressure which began exposing the cracks after Caerphilly scrumhalf Andrew Jacobs was binned for punching at the side of a maul and lock Nathan Jones immediately followed for taking out Rowen Frost at a lineout. Des Dillon completed an inevitable if laborious pushover try.
The key score, and the pick of the tries came deep into first-half injury time. From a defensive line-out on his own line, Elwood shaped to find touch but instead dummied inside, went for a half-break and Duffy was alert to support and break out. Eoin Reddan took it on along the line, before Paul Neville kept the chasing defenders at bay until the line and Marnus Uijs bust a gut in providing the final support close to the line.
Neville had a big game, Uijs led the side magnificently and Connacht's young tyros really blossomed after the break, with the strong-running Tim Allnutt and Darren Yapp cutting the Caerphilly midfield to shreds. Eoin Reddan too became notably more influential, scampering through for the first after the break as Connacht continue to reject penalties at goal.
Reddan then instigated an opportunist strike off turnover ball when Elwood pierced the defence and Uijs was the link for Duffy to score, O'Connor supporting Yapp similarly for another to take Connacht beyond their target after Munn had scored the first of what would become a pacily taken hat-trick. They'll be taking scalps again this season.
Scoring sequence: 4 mins: Yapp try, O'Connor con 7-0; 30 mins: Dillon try 12-0; 40 mins: Uijs try 17-0; (half-time 17-0); 47 mins: Reddan try, Elwood con 24-0; 53 mins: Duffy try Elwood con 31-0; 64 mins: Munn try, Elwood con 38-0; 71 mins: Elwood pen 41-0; 75 mins: O'Connor try, Elwood con 48-0; 79 mins: Munn try, Elwood con 55-0; 82 mins: Munn try, Elwood con 62-0.
CONNACHT: G Duffy; M McPhail, D Yapp, T Allnutt, W Munn; E Elwood, E Reddan; D McFarland, M Uijs (capt), P Bracken, R Frost, A Maher, P Neville, D Dillon, J O'Connor. Replacements: R McCormack for McFarland, J Charlie for Dillon, P Duignan for McPhail (all 54 mins), T Kearns for Frost (60 mins).
CAERPHILLY: J Thomas; R Greenslade-Jones, G Evans, D Hawkins (capt), K Morris; S Lawrence, A Jacobs; A Jones, D Colclough, T Marston, N Jones, N Watkins, D Davies, B Watkins, M Buckingham. Replacements: L Richards for Lawerence (52 mins), D Geraghty fo r Watkins (55 mins), A Chiltern for Jacobs (69 mins), C Fitzpatrick for A Jones (69 mins), G Jones for Davies (71 mins). Sinbinned _ Jacobs (25-35 mins), N Nones (26-36 mins), Hawkins (67-77 mins), R Greenslade-Jones (79 mins).
Referee: S Leyshon (England).
