Connacht 10 Leinster 9
“We are top of the league,” chanted the delirious home support in the Clan Terrace. To the delight of the vast majority of the 5,971 crowd, Connacht made it three wins from three for the first time in the league’s history. Leinster will wonder how they contrived to lose, but ultimately could have few quibbles as Connacht’s unquenchable desire was augmented by the game’s stand-out moment.
Cometh the hour, or the 55th minute to be precise, and cometh Kieron Marmion. An ever present for 56 games running, he has made few more telling contributions than the sniping diagonal break off the base of a ruck to then sidestep Rob Kearney for a wondrous 50-metre dash to the line and glory.
Young Jack Carty held his nerve to land the conversion and though the final 25 minutes would prove scoreless, they were no less compelling for that. Amid the tyros it was also a game for the old warriors - John Muldoon, who led from the front, and replacement George Naoupu.
As significant as anything was Connacht's herculean 14-man defence heading toward half-time. Leinster lacked imagination and creativity, relying on solo moments, and the defeat came at a cost, with Shane Jennings suffering a hamstring injury.
An “extremely proud” Pat Lam hailed his side’s guts. “We know it’s not perfect, we said that in the changing room. We said: ‘was it perfect?’ and they said ‘no’. Have we got things to work on? Yes.”
As to the message they may have sent out, he said: The big one is that we’re a good team, a good team that works hard. We’ll fight for everything, simple as that. We’re not flashy, we don’t have stars but we’re building away and we’ll keep our feet on the ground. We’ve got a massive fixture against Glasgow, we’ll enjoy tonight and then get ready for that.”
To begin with, Leinster calmly quietened the home team and crowd alike, with their recycling and fast defensive line speed, Ian Madigan steering over three out of four penalties to reward an initially dominant scrum. But when Leinster's defence was finally penalised, Carty confidently atoned for an earlier 40-metre miss.
Connacht needed that, although the crowd enjoyed the sight of Muldoon sizing up former teammate Mike McCarthy and the ensuing penalty off their former lock’s spillage moments later even more.
Alas, within two minutes, John Lacey further incurred the home crowd's wrath when binning Muldoon for coming through too soon at a Leinster ruck. Leinster looked to have extracted maximum punishment when attacking the backrow space off a scrum as Madigan sliced through Carty's inside shoulder but the 'try' was rightly ruled out for a forward pass by Eoin Reddan.
In a hugely significant moment, Robbie Henshaw made an all-or-nothing, man-and-ball turnover hit on Jimmy Gopperth - one of three by Connacht in this pivotal spell - but after the hugely influential Jamie Heaslip ripped the ball from Marmion, Brendan Macken made a scything break. Connacht were clinging on when Niyi Adeolokun bravely shot up on Seán Cronin, who was obliged to turn his back in moving the ball on to Darragh Fanning. The groggy Trinity winger didn't re-appear for the second-half.
Having kept Leinster pointless with 14 men when Marmion prevented Dominic Ryan from grounding the ball, Connacht had the additional psychological fillip of withstanding three Leinster put-ins, even earning the shove on the last of them to win a relieving penalty and ensure a thunderous ovation as the teams went through the Clan Terrace to the dressing-rooms.
The west was vibrantly awake.
Leinster still seemed in control in the third quarter, albeit without too much ambition as they hammered away with one-off runners and then saw a lineout maul held up and Denis Buckley win a relieving penalty on the deck.
Significantly, so too did hooker Dave Heffernan as Connacht finally found some joy with Lacey, and there followed Marmion's stunning individual try.
Ironically, the best moment of the match was not replayed on the big screen.
Thereafter the battle was truly joined, as tit-for-tat defensive deeds and turnover penalties abounded, with neither able to take advantage as Leinster’s maul was again repelled when they went to the corner, while Connacht couldn’t make their lineout count.
In the endgame, Ian Madigan claimed a loose ball, Luke McGrath sniped from the base and Gopperth stepped into the pocket but then out again as Connacht defenders pushed up before McGrath fumbled at the base. That was that. Naoupu rumbled from the twisted final scrum and amid mounting panic, eventually Matt Healy kicked the ball dead.
Connacht had the scalp they prize the most, and the one they’ve a funny habit of acquiring.
Scoring sequence: 2 mins Madigan pen 0-3; 12 mins Madigan pen 0-6; 16 mins Madigan pen 0-9; 22 mins Carty pen 3-9; (half-time 3-9); 55 mins Marmion try, Carty con 10-9.
CONNACHT: Darragh Leader; Niyi Adeolokun, Robbie Henshaw, David McSharry, Danie Poolman; Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley, David Heffernan, Nathan White, Aly Muldowney, Quinn Roux, John Muldoon (capt), Willie Faloon, Eoin McKeon. Replacements: George Naoupu for Falloon (32 mins), Fionn Carr for Adeolokun (half-time), Michael Kearney for Roux (49 mins), Rodney Ah You for White (65 mins), Ian Porter for Marmion, Craig Ronaldson for Leader (both 69 mins), Ronan Loughney for Buckley (80 mins).
LEINSTER: Rob Kearney; Fergus McFadden, Brendan Macken, Ian Madigan, Darragh Fanning; Jimmy Gopperth, Eoin Reddan; Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin, Mike Ross, Devin Toner, Mike McCarthy, Rhys Ruddock, Dominic Ryan, Jamie Heaslip (capt). Replacements: Cian Healy for McGrath (47 mins), Gordon D’Arcy for Macken (58 mins), Tadhg Furlong for Ross, Shane Jennings for Ryan (both 65 mins), Tom Denton for Jennings (72 mins), Luke Mcgrath for Reddan (76 mins),
Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)
