INSIDE NOEL MANNION:
Zebre defeat a setback but Brive game a chance to hit back
IT wasn’t very entertaining in Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi last weekend, and Connacht need to get their act together fast before 2017-’18 goes by the wayside.
For the last couple of weeks we have all been cutting the team a bit of slack and giving them a chance to try and get their game sorted out. But you are facing into worrying times now.
Connacht have the crucial back-to-back games in the Challenge Cup and then they have the three inter-provincial derbies over the Christmas, which are never going to be easy.
Going to Zebre was a tough outing because they have improved, and a lot of teams have had close calls there in the last few years. But it’s the performance rather than the result that will worry most people.
Some of the Connacht play was really, really poor and that’s the biggest problem. When you consider the highs that the team achieved two years ago when they won the league. Their skills and handling has become a huge problem.
Kieran Keane was saying it was a head-scratching performance. It is head-scratching, because this has been a consistent theme going through the whole season for Connacht. Even when Connacht were winning four games on the bounce a few weeks ago, and they defeated Munster, there were still a lot of errors in those games.
I don’t know what’s going to happen when you consider the schedule they have in front of them. There will need to be a lot of soul-searching.
No more than when you goo na winning streak, that creates its own momentum and morale, a losing streak does the exact same thing for all the wrong reasons. When a new coach comes in and tries to create their own game-plan and change things up, sometimes that can cause an issue.
Connacht are going well in Europe and could conceivably win the rest of their pool games and top the pool. That would put them in great stead heading into the knockout stages of the competition and who knows where it may go from there.
VULNERABLE
But Connacht are in a slightly vulnerable situation now, because when you look at the team that Kieran Keane put out in Zebre, that was a strong side. They had the two lads coming back from international duty, although Bundee Aki missed out.
I never like to see a coach being too open about his side’s problems, but sometimes it has to be said too. The lads will know they need to improve hugely if they are to progress this season.
But it is a worrying time for Connacht Rugby, and the break probably came at the wrong time for them. It was a reasonable performance away to Cardiff Blues, when they picked up two losing bonus points on the resumption. But they really should have won that game.
And then when you see what happened against Zebre, the performance levels regressed massively. No disrespect to Zebre, Michael Bradley and Conor O’Shea have put a lot of work into them and they are a good side.
They are a strong and aggressive team at home. It was a good solid win for them. Connacht got ahead and should have taken advantage of that position but they didn’t. And then Zebre came in and took their chances well.
Connacht are trying to keep two competitions going right now. The Guinness PRO14 is not a lost cause but that’s your bread and butter. It’s great to have a little bit of a break going into a different competition.
The likes of Brive will give Connacht the opportunity to strike back with a win. But on the flip-side if Connacht lose over there and then all of a sudden they are under pressure in Europe too, and you are not into January yet.
Connacht need to keep their interest in the Challenge Cup throughout the group phase and into the knockout rounds, and if they win these two matches it puts them on a tremendous footing heading towards the interprovincial derbies over the Christmas.
Otherwise things could go sour fast. Bundee Aki will be a crucial player for Connacht in the coming weeks, and the quicker he gets back the better.