Aki and Connacht defy the conditions to see off battling Perpignon
THE final whistle was a welcome sound at The Sportsground as Connacht and Perpignan braved some of the worst conditions in memory at the venue, with Darragh Leader, Bundee Aki and Kyle Godwin tries earning a home win.
Despite not having a victory to their name in 13 games and playing in alien weather conditions, Perpignan battled bravely from start to finish. However, their ill-discipline and poor handling skills meant they couldn’t kick on after they closed to within seven points in the final quarter.
This was a mental battle more than anything for Connacht, but their coach Andy Friend will be happy to see the Westerners claim the four points, a result that closes the gap to leaders Sale in Pool 3.
A couple of early penalties conceded by the former French giants allowed Connacht to make the most of their first-half wind advantage, but it still took Friend’s side a couple of attempts before managing to break the try line.
And the opening score came after 11 minutes following an attacking scrum for the home side. On his return from injury, Eoghan Masterson picked at the back of the scrum and started a run of passes. A David Horwitz reverse pass then sent Leader through the gap to score. In howling wind and driving rain, Horwitz needed Colby Fainga’a on ball-holding duty to land the conversion and the 7-0 lead.
A rare foray upfield and penalty concession gave Perpignan a fivemetre lineout after 16 minutes but they couldn’t complete the setpiece cleanly and Connacht cleared.
Their mistake proved costly when Connacht attacked at the other end. Another handling error gave Connacht an attacking scrum, and this time Aki barged over off James Mitchell’s pass, and the conversion put them 14-0 clear.
With the conditions to their advantage, Connacht could have done with a stronger lead at the interval, and Peter McCabe came closest a minute from the interval but was penalised as he stretched for the line, although the sinbinning of Yohan Vivalda a minute earlier meant Perpignan would be weakened for the start of the second half.
McCabe was to the fore with a brilliant line break five minutes after the restart, which led to a penalty under the posts for the home side. Into the teeth of the wind, it was far from straightforward, but Horwitz landed his third kick from three to put Connacht 17-0 ahead.
Perpignan finally got off the mark three minutes later when the Connacht ball carrier failed to release, and full-back Jonathan Bousquet slotted the tough kick from distance.
Playing into the wind, Connacht seemed to cope much better than their opponents. There was no kicking from hand and instead they ate up the yardage with some big carrying and even better moves through the backs, with Aki and Kieran Joyce impressive.
But the win was far from confirmed for the home side, and 14 minutes from time Perpignan halved their 14-point deficit when replacement hooker Manu Leiataua scored off a rolling maul, and Bousquet curled over an excellent conversion on the wind to make it 17-10.
The try scorer finished the game in the sin-bin after Godwin crossed in the 78th minute to wrap up the hard-earned victory.