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David Cherry scored one of Edinburgh's eight tries on Friday night. Craig Watson/INPHO
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'We are fighters': Connacht know they must bounce back as play-off fight looms

Andy Friend’s side shipped 56 points in a shocking collapse against Edinburgh.

“THERE IS A bit of work to do but we are fighters.” Connacht coach Andy Friend was determined Connacht’s worst performance of the season, possibly the worst since he took over, will not be allowed to derail their entire campaign.

After conceding eight tries and 56 points to a rampant Edinburgh side, he knows life is only going to get tougher. Three of the next four games are against Leinster, first in the league and then the home-and-away tie in the Champions Cup. They are in trouble if they come anywhere near this performance again.

This result also puts his side into the thick of the battle for a play-off spot in the United Rugby Championship. They are currently sixth but all the teams down to Benetton in 10th have at least one game in hand and some have three. They are all within five points of Connacht and all bar the Ospreys now have a better points difference.

Friend has to find a way for the players to absorb the lessons without it undermining their self-belief. He is confident it can be done.

“You don’t want to dismiss a performance like that but at the same time you don’t want it hanging round your neck,” he said. “We have done a lot of good things this year and there is still a lot of good rugby to play. I’m sure we will bounce back.

“We go back to the key principles we have been working on all year. We didn’t see some of them out there in. It looks like it’s broken but that is what happens when you’re working solely and not collectively. It is about bringing the collective back, as we have been doing in the majority of games this year.

“We want to be in the top eight but this makes it hard for us. We knew that coming to Edinburgh – we knew that at the start of this three-game block. We were trying to win three out of three. We did win the first two but not the third.”

What mystified Friend was the way the team collapsed after bossing the opening quarter and going into an eight-point lead. Once Edinburgh clicked, however, it was one way traffic with the bonus-point try coming seconds after half time and the home side, who move up to fourth, refusing to relent.

“We seemed to panic [in scoring positions] and that gave them breathing space. Then they stole a line out and next minute they were under the sticks. It kept coming from there. We were very individual, we didn’t rally as a collective and in this game you have to be as one,” Friend added.

“We have five games left [in the league] and by our reckoning have to win at least four. In this game we were miles off that.”

Gavan Casey, Bernard Jackman and Murray Kinsella lament the grey areas around high tackles, dig into French rugby’s pipeline, and break some big Connacht transfer news


The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud

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