Connacht fans can take heart from this.
It’s always difficult to stomach a defeat to your rivals.
Especially at home.
In front of a sold-out crowd.
But Connacht will have to do that and they need to concentrate on building some momentum before their playoff matches for Champions Cup qualification.
It has just been one of those seasons for Pat Lam’s side.
You think back to last year and all the fine margins or 50-50 calls went their way.
That applies to a certain extent but the defence has been poor this year.
Connacht have shipped 55 tries, when you take away the Italian sides, that is the second-worst record in the league.
Their execution in attack hasn’t been good enough either.
So it’s safe to say that Kieran Keane has some work to do when he arrives in Galway in the summer.
However, Connacht can take pride with the fact that they have some excellent young players at the club.
Tiernan O’Halloran is one of these and he put in a barnstorming performance with Joe Schmidt watching on from the stands.
O’Halloran was a consistent thorn in Leinster’s backside with his scintillating running game and offload capabilities.
A review of his attacking statistics from Saturday evening’s game proves how influential he was in Connacht’s attack.
- 20 carries
- 149 metres made
- 3 clean line breaks
- 4 defenders beaten
- 1 offload
He can also mix up his game and he knows when to kick, four which he completed on Saturday.
Some commentators often cite his defence as a potential weakness but O’Halloran made seven tackles at the Sportsground and didn’t miss any.
O’Halloran’s performances surely won’t have gone unnoticed and you can be damn sure that you will see him in another green jersey in June.
Incoming boss Keane will surely be aware of O’Halloran’s ability and with the Kiwi renowned for his attacking philosophy at the Chiefs, we may not have yet seen the best of O’Halloran.
