Sad finish to Lam’s momentous reign as spirited Connacht are unable to deny Saints
THERE was to be no fairytale ending for Pat Lam before he heads off to Bristol as Connacht were unable to keep their hopes of European Champions Cup qualification alive after a tense battle in Franklin’s Gardens.
Northampton now face a home tie with Stade Francais next Friday with the winners taking the last remaining place in next season’s competition. But for Lam’s 2016 Pro12 champions it was a typically frustrating end to a difficult season as their brave performance was not enough to snatch victory at the death.
Nic Groom and Harry Mallinder, son of Northampton head coach Jim, scored tries for the home side with Mallinder converting one and adding three penalties.
David Heffernan and Niyi Adeolokun touched down for the spirited visitors with Craig Donaldson converting one and kicking a penalty.
Lam will still leave the province with head high after overseeing a remarkable turnaround in fortunes that landed their first trophy last season and he praised the application and desire of his players.
‘I was proud of the effort and am happier to be leaving after this performance as opposed to a couple of very poor performances in recent weeks,’ said Lam.
‘We fronted up and worked hard off the ball but discipline and little errors cost us as we didn’t have enough accuracy and needed to play at a quicker tempo.
‘We had opportunities to win the game but didn’t take them and that’s been the story of our season.
‘It wasn’t an easy decision to make to leave Connacht after four years but while we are still the weakest province in terms of budget, there have been lots of changes for the better with the support of
all four counties in western Ireland being terrific.’
His counterpart Mallinder believes the victory could energise his team for the considerable challenge against Stade.
‘We knew they would stick together and be competitive throughout as we’ve never had an easy game against them,’ said Mallinder.
Remarkably I didn’t have any problems raising the players for this game as they’ve been fantastic throughout the week. ‘I’m not really a fan of these play-offs as it makes it a long season but we’ve been given a chance so we need to take that opportunity and from a financial point of view it’s not the end of the world with two extra home games.’
It’s not the end of the world for Connacht or Lam either, but it is the end of a fascinating chapter in Irish rugby.
It has been a long, difficult season for the western province but Connacht’s supporters will be forever grateful for what Lam brought and the foundations he has put in place over his four years.