Connacht 31
Dragons 7
John Fallon reports from Dexcom Stadium
CONNACHT HEAD INTO the November break on the back of a bonus-point win after proving far too strong for Dragons at Dexcom Stadium.
The province were on top in all key positions and turned the screw on the Welsh side to notch their third win of the campaign with an accomplished display.
Connacht dominated the opening half and were full value for their 19-0 interval lead after bossing matters from the outset at Dexcom Stadium.
A late change saw Josh Ioane start instead of Jack Carty at out-half but Pete Wilkins’ side got on top from the moment they won a penalty on Cardiff’s first scrum of the night.
They went for the corner and were rewarded for their ambition and while Dragons initially held the onslaught, Paul Boyle found a way over and Connacht were off the mark after five minutes.
Cathal Forde was entrusted with kicking duties and duly added the extras for the perfect start.
Their pack led the way with Joe Joyce pilfering a lineout as Dragons threatened but the Newport side didn’t help their own cause with Angus O’Brien missing touch with a penalty down the left after ten minutes.
And when Dragons did carve an opening they found the home defence in top form with Bundee Aki and Piers O’Conor denying Ewan Rosser when a try for the visitors seemed inevitable.
Connacht pulled further in front at the end of the opening quarter. Shayne Bolton set the opportunity in motion with a blistering run down the right and there were great hands from Forde, Joyce and Aki before scrum-half Caolin Blade sped through to score beside the posts. Forde’s conversion made it 14-0.
Bolton suffered an injury in the move and had to go off and was replaced by Irish U20 Hugh Gavin who had made his Connacht debut the previous week against Leinster.
Dragons had opportunities to get back in contention but with fired-up Finlay Bealham leading the home rearguard, the Welsh were twice turned over after going to the right corner.
Connacht responded and built a 16-phase move deep inside the visitors’ 22 but this time the Dragons defence held firm and denied them.
Dragons lost full-back Cai Evans to injury approaching the break and it was no surprise when the Connacht pressure yielded another try.
It came after a good lineout take from Cian Prendergast and the Connacht skipper was on hand a couple of passes later to bounce through scrum-half Dane Blacker to score and take a 19-0 lead into the break.
Dragons enjoyed a lot of possession after the restart but the Connacht defence was superb with Aki leading the way, while Niall Murray was superb in the lineout.
Connacht saturated enormous pressure and then secured the bonus point six minutes from time when replacement scrum-half Matthew Devine broke and sent Forde through for the bonus point try, his fourth of what is developing into a brilliant campaign.
Dragons pulled back a try from Taine Basham but Connacht finished on a high when. Devine raced through to score their fifth try at the death.
Connacht scorers:
Tries – Boyle, Blade, Prendergast, Forde, Devine.
Conversions – Forde (3).
Dragons scorers:
Try – Basham.
Conversion – O’Brien.
CONNACHT: Piers O’Conor; Shayne Bolton (Hugh Gavin ’20 (Byron Ralston ’58)), Cathal Forde, Bundee Aki, Santiago Cordero; Josh Ioane, Caolin Blade (Matthew Devine ’55); Peter Dooley (Denis Buckley ’55), Dylan Tierney-Martin (Eoin de Buitlear ’55), Finlay Bealham (Jack Aungier ’55); Joe Joyce (Darragh Murray ’67), Niall Murray; Cian Prendergast (c), Sean O’Brien (Sean Jansen ’55), Paul Boyle.
DRAGONS: Cai Evans (Lloyd Evans ’36); Rio Dyer, Joe Westwood (Harry Wilson ’65), Aneurin Owen, Ewan Rosser; Angus O’Brien, Dane Blacker (Rhodri Williams ’40); Cameron Jones (Aki Seiuli ’40), Oli Burrows (Brodie Coghlan ’51), Chris Coleman (Luke Yendle ’55); Ben Carter (c), Matthew Screech (Steve Cummins ’65); Shane Lewis-Hughes, Harri Keddie, Aaron Wainwright (Taine Basham ’48).
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy).
Could as easily play on Senior team and not look out of place…a serious talent!
@Michael Murray: is gleeson or mcnabney just as good
@Michael Murray: a serious talent. It’s been a long time since England have a talent that I can’t stand, that’s how good he is!
@Niall Boyle: Ha!….yeah!!
@Gary Galligan: ….no….Pollock would walk straight onto any Irish Provincial side bar Leinster and would give JVDF a run for his money.
@Michael Murray: Absolutely. Could easily make a senior squad. The underage talent in the English game is frightening. Only France on a par. It’s a 2 horse race between the 2.
@Ray Ridge: ireland could have had a serious pack of usanov, walker, Smyth, spicer, corrigan, foy, Mccarthy, Murphy, which would have been very competitive v England & france
@munsterman: Not convinced by this spicer. Big man, yes, but out on his feet after 15 minutes blowing hard. If he can get in shape and work on his fitness and be more aggressive, then maybe.
@Ray Ridge: I saw him for leinster A and he was outstanding. He’s huge so he’s not going to be that agile or mobile. But in the scrum, maul and tight defence & carrying, he’s very very good. Decent passer too. I think leinster are gonna fast-track the guy
@munsterman: Well, he must have spent the past year working on his aerobic fitness. For he was panting like a dog after 15 minutes in the Under 20 championship last year.
@Ray Ridge: yea he looked lacking in conditioning then. We still missed him whenever he wasn’t on the field though. I’d imagine he’s well conditioned now though being in the academy. It’s hard to replace a 6’10, 135kg monster. Add to that a 6’5, 120kg no8 and a very very highly rated tighthead
@munsterman: who is the no 8 ur talking about? Also is niall Smyth (I assume that’s the tighthead) out for the tournament?
@scott casey: luke Murphy, started last yr when gleeson was out. I dunno how bad those 3 are injured. With a bit of luck they’ll all be back for the wc at least cos this is potentially a very talented u20 group
@Gary Galligan: First impressions are that this fella is gonna be busy. He’s very entertaining. Some generation this one coming through..
@munsterman: Really hope we get props from this years u20s that can kick on over the next few years. Casper Gabriel might be another player who might make the world cup if he gets his residency sorted. Could make for a very interesting u20 world cup campaign
@Ray Ridge: I’d put us with those two. Per budget, we’re getting the most bang. I’d say physically we’re up against it, but we’re the ones producing most full internationals from u20 imo. I’ll go look at stats…
@Michael Murray: He definitely wouldn’t. JVDF is the best in the world and is a master in that position. Pollock has had a good breakthrough season but often finds himself running sideways and holding onto the ball unnecessarily in crucial moments against average opposition. He’s a bit reckless and does the flashy stuff off the back of his teammates hard work. Brian Gleeson was similar when he played u20s, brilliant and obviously ones to watch out for but it’s an entirely different beast when you go up to professional level as Gleeson is finding out. It’s not as easy.
@scott casey: usanov is very promising. Emmett calvey too but he’s unfortunately injured aswell. And Smyth is very highly rated, went straight into the leinster academy from school which is pretty rare
@Harry O’ Callaghan: gleeson injured his shoulder with the u20s last summer and is only back a few weeks. From what I’ve seen he’s making the step up pretty easily & since he’s been back has featured in pretty much every munster 23
@munsterman: He went straight onto a senior deal as other provinces were sniffing about. Issue with that is the hype just grows. He ideally should be doing sub academy like any 18 yeat old kid, and learning how to lock a scrum. Big, big talent though. A shame he’s injured.
@Ray Ridge: Well your comment just shows that you haven’t seen Spicer since last year and are ignorantly unaware of the long term plans being taken with him. They have him in S&C now, they didn’t last year due to his size, age and joint considerations. Ireland does not produce fellas of his height and bulk so Leinster and Ireland are taking a very long term planning view with his development. He probably won’t reach peak physical condition until at least 2 years. But of course that won’t cross your mind, and you’d prefer to just throw shade at a 19 year old kid. Grow up man.
@Carmine Lorenzo: yea it’s a shame. I’ve only seen a bit of him playing in a Blackrock game last yr that was on Premier I think. He looked a big unit. I don’t think jackman coming out and saying he’ll be the new furlong will do the lad any favours, let the young fella develop away
@Carmine Lorenzo: No I haven’t seen him since last year. Can’t see everyone. Yes my comment was based on last year. Glad to hear he’s bit fitter. However, I’ll be the judge of that when and if we see him in the under 20 championships.
@scott casey: World Rugby have already decided that his residency had to commence again when he returned from Austria during COVID. I am not sure when that is but I would imagine he didn’t bother returning until school returned, which was September 2020 which make him intelligible until next years 6N.
@Ray Ridge: No, you won’t be the judge of that actually. You need to up your rugby IQ and watch more games baby.
The 6 has ten starts for Racing 92 this season and will be heading back to England in the next year or two.
Serious English pack. It’s a shame ireland are missing 3 of its biggest forwards in niall Smyth, Alan spicer and luke Murphy through injury. We’ll still have some very good forwards but might be a bit lightweight relatively for this one
@munsterman: on a 3g pitch, being lightweight might work to our advantage as long as we’re tidy in possession…
@Sea Point: yea we’re gonna have to be very slick and defensively sound. Disciplined too, any cheap pens & they’ll kick into our 22 & maul us to death
@Sea Point: And avoid scrums.
Google tells me that Kryan Bracken does have a son called Jack. He’d be Irish eligible as his auld fella was born in Dublin.
@Ciaran Kennedy: Kyran has 2 sons and this Jack is one of them. Charlie is a little older (21) and plays scrum half – also for Saracens. It would be a great way to make up for the snub the IRFU gave Kyran at the beginning of his career as Ireland was always his first choice.
Gleeson is an exceptional back row prospect, at least as high a ceiling as pollack
Could of easily been in the Scottish squad as well
Sensational player