Perpignan 18

Connacht 31

By JOHN FALLON

CONNACHT head coach Pete Wilkins said he was pleased with the manner in which his side dealt with Perpignan in the south of France on Sunday to maintain their perfect start to the European Challenge Cup.

Their five tries to two win at Stade Aimé Giral leaves them the only side in the competition with maximum points after two rounds and they will be fancied to seal a home knockout spot when they host Lyon and travel to Cardiff in their remaining pool games in January.

“Well, very pleased and very proud,” said Wilkins. “As we know, it’s tough to win in France and this is a magnificent place to come play rugby. I think the passion of the whole region, it’s encapsulated by the Perpignan club. And, you know, we came here a few years ago and knew what a mighty challenge it is.

“So to come away with a bonus point win, I think the players deserve a huge amount of credit as it was a hostile atmosphere. There was plenty of life about the place! It’s exactly how you’d want it. And I think we saw the best of us at different times. I thought we had some really nice places of attack.

“I think our set piece functioned well when it needed to. We had that long defensive set and underpinning all of it was our work ethic and our hunger to get something out of the game. So to take the maximum, I’m really pleased,” he added.

Connacht never trailed and in the end held off a spirited rally from the Top 14 side to back up their opening round win over Zebre. The visitors built on a great start to lead 19-8 at the break and should really have had the bonus point in the bag such was their dominance in the opening half.

The lead was built despite losing two players to injury with No.8 Sean O’Brien going off after less than four minutes, while winger Andrew Smith saw his first game of the season end after 22 minutes with a hand injury.

By then Connacht were 14-0 ahead in the winter sunshine at Stade Aimé Giral with Byron Ralston getting them off the mark after four minutes from second phase after a tapped penalty.

Pictured: Connacht’s Paul Boyle who wrapped up their bonus point victory over Perpignan with the fourth try in the European Challenge Cup at Stade Aimé Giral on Sunday.