CONNACHT HEAD COACH Pete Wilkins said that leaving captain Jack Carty out of the matchday squad for the opening game of the Champions Cup was down to a tight selection call rather than any other reason.
Carty has only been selected once in the last four games for Connacht but Wilkins said he remains a key member of the squad and that there wasn’t any “deep story” behind leaving him out for the biggest game of the season as they returned to Europe’s premier competition after missing out last season.
He said JJ Hanrahan had gotten the nod in recent games, including the loss to Leinster a week earlier.
“We said at the start of the season when we recruited JJ, we are fortunate now to have two real quality No.10s, both of whom are certainly capable and good enough to start for us in the URC and in Europe and it’s a neat problem to have and I think at this stage, JJ has just been a nose ahead and is getting a bit more selection than Jack.
“There is no sort of deep story behind it but it is just backing someone we think is playing well,” said Wilkins. “The way Jack has handled it has been credit to him. He has not shirked anything in terms of wanting to keep improving himself and keep driving the team’s improvement and he trained fantastically well this week, as well as he has trained all season.
“Look, he is in a good spot rugby-wise and no doubt will get an opportunity again at some point and he is incredibly important to us.
“We have got a leadership group of seven players at the moment, of which Jack is one and Jack is obviously club captain within that. And all of those seven would be very hands-on in terms of our preparation for the week and I know that sounds maybe fairly obvious, but in terms of reinforcing my messaging and in terms of helping shape the mindset for the week, in terms of driving the standards for the week, and Jack is absolutely at the forefront of that.
“So, once you get to game-day we are likely to have someone like Caolin Blade, who is another member of that leadership group, as captain of the team on the grass on a lot of occasions so in that sense I would like to think any of those seven could step up and captain the team if required. And we said that when we put that leadership group together at the start of the season.
“We have a club captain who is a great representative of us to the outside world and certainly the figurehead for us within the building, but at any stage — Conor Oliver has also captained the team — I would like to think they can step up,” added Wilkins.
His side was blown away by a rampant Bordeaux-Bègles side who ran in six tries as Connacht fell to their biggest ever home defeat in all European competitions.
The loss of Mack Hansen after 22 minutes was a big blow, but they were already in trouble by then as a heavily-loaded Bordeaux side started cutting them in pieces with their speed and strength — and the failure of Connacht to make a couple of penalties to the corner count in the early stages when they had the wind behind them set the tone.
Wilkins is waiting to establish the extent of Hansen’s injury as they prepare for the daunting task of travelling to play Saracens next Saturday.
Connacht’s third World Cup player Bundee Aki made his return on Friday night for his first game since May but could do little to stem the dominance of the French side.
“I was really pleased for him,” added Wilkins. “It was important for us to get him back, particularly for coming into European competition. I wasn’t sure if he would last 80 minutes but he did and we checked on him with about 25 minutes to go to see how he was tracking and he said he still felt strong.
“I think to be back, but to also get that volume of minutes, is really good for him and the other guys will feed off that as well.”
Connacht’s only score came from flanker Shamus Hurley-Langton after full-back Romain Buros got his first try but once French winger Damian Penaud got over, it was all one-way traffic in the second-half as Bordeaux built on their 12-5 interval advantage.
Winger Pablo Uberti got the first of two tries, Buros secured the bonus point with his second touchdown and there was also a penalty try as Connacht folded against a strong Bordeaux side who are bidding for glory on two fronts in France and Europe under new coach Yannick Bru.
“I think it is important to understand our head coach,” said Bordeaux attack coach Noel McNamara.
“Yannick Bru has a fantastic history in this competition. He won it as a player and twice as a coach and when you have a strong team you want to put your best foot forward,” added the former Irish U-20 coach.
