By John Fallon

Hat-trick hero Paul Boyle says Connacht will head back to south Wales tomorrow with a pep in their step after holding a team scoreless for the first time in almost six years.

Their 52-0 mauling of Black Lion in the European Challenge Cup last weekend, which on Monday saw their coach Richard Cockerill relieved of his job in charge of the invitational side and the Georgian national team, came a week after Connacht let a 21-0 lead slip away to the Ospreys in Bridgend.

Now Connacht head back to Wales to take on the Dragons at Rodney Parade tomorrow night and Boyle said that holding the Georgians scoreless was a big boost.

They had not managed to do that since a 29-0 win over Cardiff in the league at the Sportsground in February 2020.

“I watched their game with Montpellier last week and they put up a pretty impressive performance, particularly in the first half against the French,” said Boyle.

“They were a good side, most have played with the Georgian national team. I suppose we kept a foot on the throat. Jack Carty was kind of leading us to keeping them scoreless, and that was on our chat as the game went on, and thankfully we did.”

Boyle ran in a first half hat-trick and seemed poised to join Keith Matthews and Matt Healy as the only players to score four tries in a Challenge Cup game for Connacht, but in the end he had to settle for Connacht’s 12th hat-trick in the Challenge Cup and join Finlay Bealham as the only forward to do it for the Westerners.

Boyle, who captained the side, said head coach Stuart Lancaster had demanded a response after blowing the big lead against the Ospreys the previous week.

“Well, he put a bit of a fire up us, I suppose. We weren’t happy with being that far ahead and losing. But I think we learned from that. He has brought more of a physical edge in the way we want to play.

“I suppose our training intensity has gone to another level, which allows us to be fit enough to keep banging them and being physical, and that’s what we did.”

Connacht are currently ninth in the table with two wins from five, winning last time out in the URC with their best display of the season when they defeated the Sharks 44-17.

They have a game in hand with their clash against Scarlets, which fell victim to bad weather in October when the Llanelli side were unable to travel, and that match has now been fixed for March 13 by which stage the new stand will be open on College Road.

Tomorrow’s game is the start of a trio of URC games for the province over Christmas: they host Ulster on College Road on Saturday December 27; before heading to Dublin for a meeting with Leinster on Lansdowne Road on Saturday January 3.

Following that are back-to-back Challenge Cup games against Montpellier (away on Sunday January 11) and Montauban (home on Saturday January 17), before a sold-out home game with Leinster in the URC on Saturday January 24 when the new stand at the College Road venue will be officially opened.