PAT LAM SAID that he was really proud the way his men reacted when captain John Muldoon was sin-binned and their lead was shredded to just a point in the final quarter at Thomond Park.
Lam said that was when Connacht really showed their character to hold out with 14 men and then seal the win when Muldoon came back on in the closing stages.
“I was really proud. I looked over at the boys. We’ve been talking about resilience and mental toughness and some of the things we’ve been doing this year is from last year and year before is about building that because you’re going to be thrown challenges. That’s what life is, that’s what rugby is.
“So what I saw when that happened – I obviously didn’t agree with it – but what I watched is what I saw in Moscow when flights got cancelled. The boys just get on with it.
“The telling is we got back into our structure. Everyone did their roles, we put pressure on in defence, we got some turnovers and we were able to go back at them again. That was the sign that the boys mental toughness and resilience was on. We just did what we train,” said Lam.
He said that while they were thrilled with the win — it’s only the second time ever Connacht have won at Thomond Park and the first in the professional era — nobody was getting carried away.
“As I said to the players in the dressing room, what we did out there is what we do. We have a plan and we work hard in training and what we did tonight is no different from what we did last week in Brive and what we did in Russia.
“This is what we do. We are paid to go out and play and perform. This is what we love to do. But we’re still in November, this means nothing until we get to May.”
Lam disagreed with the decision to award Munster a penalty try when Muldoon tackled Andrew Conway without the ball — Connacht argued that scrum-half Kieran Marmion was back to execute a tackle if necessary.
“I obviously disagree – penalty try, obviously there was enough coverage around there but those calls are what you get – it’s what you do, how you react. I’d rather focus on what we did throughout the game under trying circumstances.
“The conditions were tough and the selection and the game-plan worked a treat for us,” added Lam.
