ERIC ELWOOD EXPRESSED satisfaction at Connacht’s hard-fought win over Zebre in the RaboDirect Pro12 last night, while admitting his side were “nervy” for parts of the game.
The Irish side emerged with a 23-19 win, thanks to some late points from the boot of Dan Parks, and Elwood said he was happy his side were maintaining a level of consistency of late.
“We’re three on the bounce now and particularly after the last good performance, we knew people would expect us to beat Zebre,” he said.
“We were asked a lot of questions, but thankfully we came out the right end of it.”
He continued: “It was always going to be really difficult for us. We’ve played this team four times. On the balance, the pressure comes on you if you’re the winning team.“We were all nervy tonight because it was a huge challenge and it went right down to the wire.”
Although while happy with the win, Elwood admitted there was plenty for his side to work on.
“[I was] a little disappointed in our defence. Our intent wasn’t there as normal and we paid the price.
“Mick Kearney at scrum time did a great job, but of course you don’t want to lose someone like Swifty.
He also rejected suggestions that his side’s discipline needed to be worked on.
“I felt they were lying on the ball a little bit and preventing us from playing it quick. I had a chat with the referee at half-time to make him aware of it.
“There was a couple of obvious ones, but four in one half isn’t too bad.”
He also explained how he had challenged his team to rectify their mistakes from last week.
“Against Cardiff, our scrum was good but our lineout wasn’t so good, so that was a strong focus. The lads put in the effort all week and we got our reward.“And fair dues to Jason and Mick Kearney and Brownie, who was calling the lineouts.”
Meanwhile, Jason Harris-Wright said the result was the most important aspect of last night’s game.
“We got four points, which is what we wanted,” he said.
“People underestimate how good they are, and it’s probably the best they’ve been when we’ve played them.”
And while he was encouraged by the performance, he emphasised that it was important not to get too carried away, in spite of their recent fine form.
“We have our own goal and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t looked at the table, but we’re just going to focus on trying to get four points.
“It’s always nice to get a good win though.”
Asked why Connacht let an early 14-3 lead slip, he said:
“We struggled to keep the ball. It’s hard when they keep running at you.“We maybe switched off a little bit. I think that’s a big focus – keeping the foot on the pedal.
The hooker added that it was a relief to win, particularly as they have often in the past been marginally beaten in similar, thrilling affairs.
“We’ve been on the end of those scorelines, so it’s nice to come out on top of those games.
“You look at the best sides in any sport and they know how to close out games, so it’s great for us.”
Additional reporting by Aaron Turner of Connacht Clan
