Leicester Tigers 29
Connacht 23
CONNACHT WILL TRAVEL back from Welford Road thinking about what could have been after Leicester Tigers came from behind to win a competitive contest at the famous old stadium.
The province stuck to their strengths in Leicester, playing with tempo and invention to seriously trouble the Tigers before Finlay Bealham’s second-half yellow card allowed the home team to turn the momentum back in their favour, Steve Borthwick’s side scoring two tries to regain the lead during that period.
Not many teams have managed to trouble the Tigers this season, but Connacht certainly did that for large spells, while a Jack Carty drop-goal at the death bagged a losing bonus point for the visitors to ensure they took something from the trip.
Connacht made a decent start in front of a festive Welford Road crowd, and Carty kicked them into a early lead with a penalty in the sixth minute.
However Leicester soon started to dominate proceedings as Connacht struggled to deal with the hosts’ physicality.
Andy Friend had spoken about the strength of the Leicester maul in the lead up to this fixture, and sure enough the Tigers used that platform to put their visitors under pressure.
Following a strong lineout move, the Tigers attacked the Connacht line with a series of tight carries before Nic Dolly got over in the corner following a smart skip pass from Ben Youngs, with Freddie Burns failing to find the target with his conversion.
Burns then had a chance to extend the Tigers’ lead from the tee with a penalty in the 21st minute, but the out-half again saw his kick trail wide.
Leicester continued to keep the pressure on Connacht, and soon had a second try when Bryce Hegarty finished a nicely worked move which included some good hands from Matt Scott – although there was a hint of a forward pass in the build-up.
This time Burns nailed the conversion and pushed Leicester into a nine-point lead.
Connacht were struggling to live with Leicester’s power game, but stayed in the contest thanks to some impressive, disciplined defensive work.
And they got their reward shortly before the half hour mark through John Porch. As Connacht ran into a succession of dead ends in the middle of the park, a superb offload from the influential Bundee Aki – who was making his first Connacht apperance for two months – opened up the pitch and allowed Porch to burst free.
Carty converted and Connacht were back in the game.
A period of kick tennis then ensued, and while Connacht continued to find themselves under pressure they also managed to ask questions of the Tigers defence with some smart attacking play.
And on the stroke of half time they moved into an unlikely lead, with Carty breaking through from the Connacht half following a loose pass from Burns which Hegarty failed to collect, the error forced thanks to Connacht’s impressive linespeed.
Carty even had time to celebrate the score before touching down under the posts, with the out-half’s conversion moving Connacht 17-12 ahead at the break, having enjoyed 55% of the possession and 52% of the territory.
They managed to build on that lead in the early stages of the second period, Carty slotting his second penalty of the afternoon after the Tigers knocked the ball on, as Connacht moved into an eight-point lead.
Carty was growing increasingly influential as the variety of his kicking game kept the Tigers guessing and winning Connacht some valuable territory.
The home side responded by looking to their bench, Burns hauled off with half an hour still to play as Guy Porter entered the action and Hegarty moved to out-half.
Connacht soon found themselves pinned back in front of their posts, and following a series of penalties Finlay Bealham was sent to the bin.
With Connacht down numbers Aki had to step in for the next scrum, from which Leicester pushed the ball across the pitch to stretch Connacht, with Freddie Stewart stepping inside to cross. Hegarty kicked the conversion to cut the deficit to one point with 20 minutes to play.
With just 14 men on the pitch, Connacht were struggling to contain Leicester and the hosts took full advantage, Hosea Saumaki showing great speed to run in the bonus point try, a gap opening after Alex Wootton shot out of the line. Hegarty’s conversion saw Leicester take 14 points during Bealham’s spell in the bin.
Leicester continued to trouble Connacht around the setpiece and then extended their lead through a Hegarty penalty in the 71st minute.
The bulk of the final 1o minutes was played in the Leicester half but Connacht couldn’t find any way back into the context, as the Tigers made it 13 wins from 13 outings this season.
For Connacht, the province continued their unwanted record of never winning a Champions Cup game on English soil. This latest visit will feel like one that got away.
Leicester scorers:
Tries: Dolly, Hegarty, Stewart, Saumaki
Penalties: Burns [0/1], Hegarty [1/1]
Conversion: Burns [1/2], Hegarty [2/2]
Connacht scorers:
Try: Porch, Carty
Penalties: Carty [2/2]
Conversion: Carty [2/2]
Drop goal: Carty [1/1]
LEICESTER: Bryce Hegarty; Freddie Stewart, Matt Scott, Dan Kelly, Hosea Saumaki; Freddie Burns (Guy Porter 52), Ben Youngs (Jack van Poortvliet 67); Nephi Leatigaga (James Whitcombe 50), Nic Dolly (Julián Montoya 50); Joe Heyes (Dan Cole 50), Harry Wells; Eli Snyman (Calum Green 50); George Martin (Ollie Chessum 59), Tommy Reffell (Marco van Staden 61), Jasper Wiese.
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; John Porch, Sam Arnold, Bundee Aki, Alex Wootton (Diarmuid Kilgallen 75); Jack Carty (captain), Kieran Marmion (Caolin Blade 66); Matthew Burke (Tietie Tuimauga 66), David Heffernan (Shane Delahunt 55), Finlay Bealham (Jack Aungier 75); Ultan Dillane, Niall Murray (Leva Fifita 65), (Conor Fitzgerald 65); Cian Prendergast (Abraham Papali’i 65), Conor Oliver, Jarrad Butler (Jack Aungier 56-65).
Yellow card: Bealham 55
Referee: Mike Adamson.
