CONNACHT COACH PETE Wilkins has hit back at suggestions his men stopped trying against Bordeaux-Bègles or that their record 41-5 home defeat in the Champions Cup was embarrassing.
There has been considerable criticism of Connacht’s first game back in Europe’s premier competition, with television pundit and former Irish international Donncha O’Callaghan laying into them at half-time during Friday’s clash at the Sportsground.
By then Connacht were only trailing 12-5 but were blown away after the restart and fell to their biggest ever home defeat in Europe, surpassing the 37-9 loss to Toulouse in Galway ten years ago.
“I absolutely disagree that they stopped competing, absolutely disagree, that they switched off,” said Wilkins when asked at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, when asked if Connacht had given up.
“I think there was a definite shift in momentum that had a big impact on us mentally. So in terms of the first seven minutes we attacked really well, we started really brightly into the game but for Bordeaux to counter-attack and work their way down the field and score, that was a huge moment in the game mentally.
“You have teams coming here, particularly French teams, traditionally they are looking for that carrot for them to say ‘this could be our night after all’ and I think that passage of play had a big impact but I don’t think it made the guys stop competing or stop working but it put Bordeaux on the front foot.
“The evidence is we went in at 12-5 and for all the failure to execute in the first ten minutes, we were very much in the hunt, But then the sucker-punch is you come out after half-time, having made a couple of changes, they grubber-kick through, we clear our lines, and on the next offensive set we have two really dominant tackles, really good phases, and the very next one we leave space for Bordeaux’s nine to scoot through and go in under the posts. So, all the talk at half-time, all the planning, goes out the window.
“And I don’t think the guys stopped working but at that point Bordeaux’s momentum became unsurpassable. Crucially, when you read the game back, we still got into their 22 nine times but only managed to execute once (Bordeaux scored six tries from eleven entries). We still had opportunities to make a dent on the scoreboard but it was not good enough. But I wouldn’t question the guys’ work rate.
“I don’t agree it was embarrassing because that implies the players have embarrassed us and that’s not the case. I think the players acknowledge they did not deliver in a big game and I think the players have been really blunt in terms of looking at what they could do better and I think we have been really blunt in telling them what they can do better, but embarrassing is not a word we would use.”
He is now preparing his men for a daunting trip to play a Saracens side on Saturday in north London who went down to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in the opening round.
