Connacht disappointed in defeat but Ulster bounce back
CONNACHT head coach Pete Wilkins was frustrated by his side’s performance against Saracens in the Champions Cup yesterday but said there were positives to take out of the 55-36 defeat. The province conceded eight tries, although they did cross for five of their own.
‘Real mixed emotions for myself and the group at the minute to be honest. We’re frustrated and disappointed by the scoreline,’ Wilkins told RTÉ Sport afterwards.
‘Obviously, I think Saracens scored too many points, that goes without saying. But too many of those we probably gifted to them with some easy errors that gave them either access to the 22 or gave them clear scoring opportunities.
‘But we stayed in there, and we played some good rugby and we kept scoring points ourselves.
‘So there’s a feeling maybe of a bit of a missed opportunity there. We earned the right to play but at the same time, we were too leaky in terms of giving them opportunities.’
Champions Cup holders La Rochelle, meanwhile, suffered an agonising defeat against the Stormers in Cape Town – their second successive loss of the tournament – following a late Andre-Hugo Venter try that Manie Libbok converted to secure a 21-20 verdict.
Bristol rugby director Pat Lam made 13 changes for the clash with Bordeaux-Begles in France and his team suffered a 36-17 defeat at Stade Chaban-Delmas.
Only Rich Lane and Magnus
Bradbury remained from the starting line-up that edged past Lyon last Saturday and free-scoring Bordeaux took advantage.
Ulster enjoyed a badly-needed victory over Top14 leaders Racing 92 at Ravenhill last night.
Off the back of three straight losses, including last week’s heavy defeat at Bath, Dan McFarland’s men were much improved.
Despite an early try it took a while for Ulster to gain the upper hand but they then had a bonus point in the bag early in the second half.