Challenge Cup / Pau 10 Connacht 6: If Connacht were to put in a pin in a map of France, the odds, or desire, to locate Narbonne would be negligible.
Yet, with 32 teams from seven countries having competed in this season's Parker Pen Challenge Cup, Narbonne and Connacht will meet for a third successive year.
It is not the scenario Connacht would have hoped for when they qualified for this season's quarter-finals with an 18-point aggregate over Pau on Saturday evening.
The players and the people's choice would have most definitely have sided with London Irish who fell to Narbonne on a 42-30 aggregate.
"Obviously, we would have preferred London Irish. As a glamour fixture it would have been great. But we are just happy to be in this position, " says Connacht coach Michael Bradley.
With a third successive French visit in this year's Challenge Cup, Connacht have had it tough, but Saturday's game in a rainy and windswept Stade de Hameau once again confirmed the province's competitiveness.
And although Narbonne's record in the competition is superior to Connacht's, games between these two protagonists have always gone down to the wire. Last year, Connacht prevailed with a single point on aggregate; two seasons ago Narbonne had the edge by virtue of tries scored when they finished 40-40 after the two legs.
While conditions mitigated against any side overturning a 22-point lead, Connacht sensibly raised the stakes with two Eric Elwood penalties in the first half, and then defended the lead in the second as Pau desperately sought to preserve their 100 per cent home record.
They did achieve that small battle, but the two-leg victory for Connacht was nothing less than they deserved - had they lost, it would not have reflected the province's season to date.
"It was important for us to win as it would have been hugely disappointing to lose given the quality of performances this year," Bradley says. "It was a very good team performance and, overall, we were the better side.
"In Galway we showed our attacking prowess to score four tries, in Pau it was our good defensive qualities."
Connacht were cool under pressure, particularly in the second half, and if Pau thought their number eight Imanol Harinordoquy would do the business, they had not reckoned on Connacht's John O'Sullivan who eclipsed the French international.
Their second World Cup player, centre Damien Traille, did get in for the opening try after 48 minutes, but the floodgates were kept firmly closed by Connacht's committed defence.
Replacement right wing Jaouher sqeezed in at the corner after a sweeping left to right move after 75 minutes. But, by then, Connacht were already thinking of the quarter-final tie.
SCORING SEQUENCE - 19 min: Elwood penalty 0-3; 36: Elwood penalty 0-6; Half time: 0-6; 48: Traille try 5-6; 75: Jaouher try 10-6.
CONNACHT: M McHugh; M Mostyn, D Yapp, T Allnutt (capt), T Robinson; E Elwood, M Walls; D McFarland, B Jackman, A Clarke; D Browne, A Farley; M Swift, M Lacey, J O'Sullivan. Replacements: C Keane for Walls, C McPhillips for Robinson (58 mins), J Fogarty for Jackman (73), T Carter for O'Sulllivan (78), W OKelly for McFarland (82).
PAU: J Souverbie, J Peyras, E Artiguste, D Traille, P Negre Gauthier, D Aucagne, N Cabannes, D Berdoy, M Tincu, O Sourgens, L Faure, O Laperne, B Bordenave, R Cabannes, I Harinordoquy. Replacements: R Jaouher for Peyras (half-time), Lacrouts for Bordoy (56), Cistacq for Artiguste (63), Souverbie for Cabannes (65).
Yellow cards - Pau: D Berdoy (34 mins); Tincu (59). Connacht: A Clarke (38), M Lacey (67).
Referee: Hugh Watkins (Wales).
