CONNACHT WERE FAR from perfect in their Friday night win in Ravenhill, but in a way, that was part of the beauty of it.
This weekend they can celebrate a landmark result, the banishment of a hoodoo and a third win of the season. But the 15-22 victory will also deliver areas of their game to hone in on for the season ahead.
Fortunately, the positive aspects of their game were enough to break a 58-year winless run in the northern province. Their scrum, having flexed on the Scarlets a fortnight ago, was comfortably dominant and the defensive effort continually frustrated Ulster – whose two crossed-off tries were the result of chaotic kick-chases.
There was a certain irony in the fact that, early Tiernan O’Halloran try aside, Connacht’s trademark high-tempo wide attacking game was the element that didn’t function on Friday. Fortunately, they are fast becoming a more rounded force.
“I thought (the forward pack) were brilliant. I thought they laid a platform for us,” said Friend.
What has been nice is that we’ve shown we can attack in the back three, shown we can attack through the centres and now we have a forward pack who give us some real go-forward too.
“To have the ability to strike from any of those areas is pleasing. But we’ll keep working on it.”
The breakdown will rank high on the Australian’s work-on list, after being outscored 10-8 in a second half against 14 men.
“Ulster are a very proud team. Down to 14 men, down to 13 men for a period, they challenged our breakdown. We talked about our groundwork, talked about our shield getting close early but they were probably too quick for us there.
“Credit to them, but we’ve to learn from that and learn how to make it easier on ourselves.”
In fairness to the western province, they were dealt a trio of injury blows in the first-half that would have derailed many sides.
The experience and class of Kieran Marmion was lost in the opening minutes, soon followed to the treatment room by O’Halloran (Achilles) and Tom Farrell (HIA). With all three backs off the bench, the makeshift back-line did well to stand strong on what has proven such a very unhappy hunting ground since 1960.
The key man in that back seven remained, of course, and Bundee Aki’s defensive intensity finally put the game beyond Ulster as he picked off Johnny McPhillips’ pass before Jacob Stockdale.
“That’s a focus we have with our defence coach Pete Wilkins, ball awareness focus. The boys have bought into that big time. So they’re not just defending the man, they’re defending the ball.
“What we saw with Bundee was his anticipation and hunger, but also part of the system that Pete Wilkins put in place.
“The other thing we’ve been focusing on is our bounce; getting back on our feet. We did that really well. We kept getting back on our feet and making tackles. We saw Ulster needed to score, they threw a lot at us in those last 10 minutes and our boys kept bouncing up and making tackles.”
166 of them, from 186 attempts. Room for improvement, sure, but Friend has Connacht in a very solid starting position. Their 15 points from the opening six rounds of the Pro14 is commendable given they have already faced Leinster, Scarlets, Glasgow, Edinburgh and a trip to (what before Friday was) their least favourite venue.
The Challenge Cup window will serve as change of pace and a chance for Friend’s front-line stalwarts to rest up and recover before resuming the league campaign with November Test-overshadowed clashes away to Ospreys and at home to Dragons. Further opportunities to show the full array of threats.
“We know it was a tough fixture list. but we said at the front end that we need to know where we are after six games.
“I feel like we’re competitive, I don’t think we’re the finished product yet, but I feel like on our day we can match it with anyone.”
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