Connacht will compete in the 2016/17 Champions Cup but, right now, that huge achievement is secondary.
Pat Lam’s men had too much for striving, bruised Munster and, after an almighty fight, had their tryscoring bonus secured after 67 minutes.
With Leinster and Glasgow both getting bonus point wins, this weekend, this was the westerner’s chance to show they were not for wilting. 35-14 suggests they are just getting started.
Logic suggested Connacht would not have enough in the tank after wasting themselves in vain at Grenoble’s Stade-des-Alpes, last Saturday.
That certainly seemed the case when Munster led 14-6 after 25 minutes. Simon Zebo had been unstoppable, Jack O’Donoghue bristled with intent and Francis Salli rag-dolled the Connacht backline.
It started well for the westerners, with a Shane O’Leary penalty. By the time he got his second – with the Munster pack struggling – Zebo had scored a fantastic try with a smart line and neat evasion of three home Connacht players.
At 7-6, Connacht spurned opportunities to score their first try and were turned over twice in the Munster 22. The visitors made them regret that when Mike Sherry powered over, out wide, and Johnny Holland landed an excellent touchline conversion.
Connacht got right back into the tie, however, when a spell that combined awful, loose passing and eye-watering offloads led to a Niyi Adeolokun try. The winger simply had too much pace for the covering defence.
Then came the turning point(s). More scrum pressure saw Munster loosehead James Cronin sin-binned. Connacht were not content with kicking themselves 16-14 ahead at the break.
More stout defence looked to have spared Munster, as the game neared 40 minutes, but, once stretched, Billy Holland took another yellow for his team. It put his men down to 13 and Connacht, scrumming like men possessed, claimed a penalty try.
Best view in The Sportsgrounds house! #ConVMun pic.twitter.com/CU8ySclY7J
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Munster ate time well, and threatened while they were at it, but could not break through the green lines. Once they were 15 again, it was Connacht that pressed.
The home fans were treated to one of the tries of the season as Aly Muldowney claimed a lineout, 35 metres out, and set in motion a sweeping, left to right, set-play. Out wide, Robbie Henshaw grubbered on, Ronan O’Mahony missed it completely, and Adeolokun swept up. The TMO had a close look before giving it a try. 25-14 and Anthony Foley was forced into several changes.
62 minutes gone and Francis Salli was certain he had got his team right back in it. Munster gradually worked the ball forward and, by the posts, he found a pocket of space. Salli hurtled through it – an airborne sight to see – but did not ground the ball. The home fans loved that TMO decision.
60 seconds later and Connacht won another big scrum just inside their foe’s half. The home fans enjoyed that even more.
The bonus point was coming and there was nothing Munster could do about it. Ultan Dillane went close and others took it closer but Finlay Bealham had the honour of diving home under the posts.
This team are for real.
They have been telling us for months and now they’ve just told Munster twice.
