Zebre 12

Connacht 22

By JOHN FALLON

Interim head coach Colm Tucker said that Connacht players will learn a lot from a tough campaign and they can head into next season with a lot of positives as they are not far off the mark.

They ended a difficult season featuring problems both on and off the field on a winning note when proving too strong for Zebre in Parma on Saturday.

“I was very proud of the boys for digging in and getting the four points. We took our chances and we took them very well. The players were able to solve problems on the pitch as we went along and ultimately deserved the win,” said Tucker.

Connacht will wind down their campaign now in the next week or so and start plotting for next season.

“We will have reviews during the week and we will have a day where we say goodbye to the departing squad members,” added Tucker. “They will then go on holidays, we will review the season as coaches and they will get individual plans, et-cetera, but they will get a break and a break they deserve after a very long and tough season.”

Tucker, who was propelled from scrum and contact coach to the top job in March after head coach Pete Wilkins initially went on sick leave, and then departed permanently before being announced a few weeks later as Benetton’s attack coach for next season, said they were not far off the mark in this campaign.

“I think ‘frustrating’ is the word I would use. Fifteen bonus points tell a story in itself. We have been in every fight in just about every game. It’s just those few inches, that last per cent that we have to layer on now as coaches and a squad. I think we have been through those hardships and I think you will see a team that will learn and have grown through it and will grow next season,” he added.

“It has been frustrating but there are massive positives when you see a team that is scoring the amount of tries we have been scoring. We have a couple of things to fix around our defence which no doubt will be a focus for us. A lot of boys will be a year older, a year wiser next year and turning those two points into five points I think you will see a good positive side next year, challenging again for top eight.”

It’s a reset time now for Connacht and they need to recover from what has at times been a traumatic season, which started out with the strongest squad they have assembled in the professional era, but just never took flight.

Pictured: Cian Prendergast scored Connacht’s opening try in Italy at the weekend.