Connacht 27

Bulls 28

By JOHN FALLON at Dexcom Stadium

CONNACHT Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said they have no issue with the 20-minute red card dished out to flanker Josh Murphy in the opening half of their narrow loss to the Bulls at Dexcom Stadium on Friday night.

The 30-year-old lashed out at Bulls hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels amid claims from Murphy to referee Mike Adamson that the South African had grabbed him in the groin area.

But TMO Hollie Davidson and the match officials were unable to find proof of this in the various camera angles on the ruck and Murphy was dismissed to be replaced just before the break by Sean O’Brien.

“No, I don’t think we can disagree with the decision,” said Lancaster. “I’m not going to complain about the decision at all. Obviously, our learning is to allow the referee to referee the incident which created the action.

“So, that’s the lesson for all the players, not just Josh. You have to allow the officials to deal with those sorts of things and not react because we’ve come up on the wrong side of it.”

The red card proved costly on a night when a spirited comeback came up agonisingly short on a special occasion when the province fielded three British and Irish Lions on the field for the first time.

But they were unable to crown the occasion with a win as the Bulls made the most of limited possession to carve out their third win of the campaign.

Connacht have only had seven Lions in history and not since Ciaran Fitzgerald and current IRFU President, John O’Driscoll, togged out together for the province in the 1980s have they had more than two on the pitch at the same time.

Add in three others included in Andy Farrell’s autumn squad during the week and Lancaster got his first taste of a full strength side since joining in the summer.

But even with Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham starting, Connacht found themselves trailing 12-7 at the break despite enjoying the bulk of the possession in a half where they were reduced to 14 men for most of the second quarter after flanker Murphy was red-carded for 20 minutes after striking Bulls hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

The Bulls struck within a minute for their second try with veteran full-back Willie le Roux breaking down the left to score after exchanging passes with winger Sebastian de Klerk. Keagan Johannes landed the conversion from the left.

It was a big blow to a Connacht side who started solidly and were good value for their 7-0 lead after ten minutes. Josh Ioane, who had found a good touch inside the 22, pounced after several phases after the Bulls made a mess of the lineout and the Connacht out-half spotted a gap to score before adding the extras.

But Connacht’s propensity for conceding after scoring, which dogged them last year, surfaced again and the Pretoria side hit back in less than two minutes. Wingers Canan Moodie and de Klerk, dangerous throughout, combined down the left and scrum-half Paul de Wet supplied the finish.

Connacht got back on top but Murphy’s red card took the sting out of their attack. Bundee Aki went into a few scrums until Sean O’Brien replaced Murphy just before the break. The hosts defended well and should have reduced the margin nine minutes before the interval with a penalty from 25 metres but Ioane, who remains unable to match his superb open play with consistency off the tee, pulled it across goal.

Johannes extended the lead with a drop goal while he had a penalty advantage three minutes after the restart but a Mack Hansen kick and chase led to a turnover which Ioane exploited with another good break, feeding Byron Ralston who in turn put scrum-half Caolin Blade in for a try at the end of a week when he was recalled to the Irish squad. Ioane’s excellent conversion from the left cut the gap to 15-14 after 46 minutes.

But the South Africans hit back and quick hands saw de Klerk put de Wet through for his second try after 54 minutes to lead 22-14 before Johannes extended it with a 60th minute penalty.

Replacement full-back Sean Naughton got Connacht back in the game when he chased a Shayne Bolton kick and scored when Johannes lost his footing.

Johannes hit back with a penalty to make it 28-19, but Connacht responded with Naughton landing a penalty from 45 metres to get them within a score and then a penalty to the right corner after a high hit on Naughton by le Roux led to a succession of drives before Hansen scored in the right corner in the final minute to cut the gap to a point.

Naughton stepped forward with a conversion from the right wing into a tricky wind and he got two goes at it when the Bulls broke early, his first effort missing the left post by inches and his second one not coming in enough and went a foot outside the right post.

Hansen was injured in the process – three of the Connacht try scorers were tackled dangerously after scoring without sanction – and had to be wheeled off. He was in a moonboot after the game, and had been ruled out of Ireland’s clash with the All Blacks in two weeks.

Meanwhile, Murphy, who was sent off this time last year against Ulster, faces a disciplinary hearing following his 20-minute red card.

Connacht: M Hansen; C Mullins (S Naughton 55), B Ralston, B Aki (C Forde 60), S Bolton; J Ioane, C Blade (M Devine 66); P Dooley (J Duggan 52), D Heffernan, F Bealham (J Aungier 58); D Murray, D O’Connor (J Joyce 52); J Murphy (S O’Brien 39), C Prendergast (D Tierney-Martin 55-67), S Jansen.

Bulls: W le Roux; C Moodie, D Kriel, J Serfontein (H Vorster 66), S de Klerk; K Johannes, P de Wet (E Papier 75); A Tshakweni (G Steenekamp 60), JH Wessels (J Grobbelaar 60), W Louw (F Klopper 55); C Wiese, R Ludwig (c); N Xaba, JJ Theron, J Rudolph.

Referee: M Adamson (Scotland).

Pictured: Connacht’s Cian Prendergast is tackled by Cobus Wiese of Vodacom Bulls during Friday’s URC encounter at Dexcom Stadium.