Ospreys 24

Connacht 21

By JOHN FALLON IN BRIDGEND

STUART Lancaster said he learned a lot on Sunday about the Connacht squad he took charge of last summer but there wasn’t much more gleaned from a miserable enounter in the wind and rain at the Brewery Field in Bridgend which had all the hallmarks of a game from two or three decades ago.

The losing bonus point was scant reward for a side which led 21-0 after 27 minutes but once their scrum dominance was negated the wheels came off all over the place throughout the side.

It was an astonishing, but all too familiar, collapse and while it might have an impact on having home advantage at the business end of the Challenge Cup, it’s not really going to effect their qualification for the knockout stages where four games for each of the sides in the three six-team pools is going to result in just two of the 18 teams being eliminated in the group phase.

So, no need to panic on that front but Connacht fans – there were a few dozen of them there in the attendance of just over 3,000 on a dirty afternoon in south Wales – had hoped these sort of collapses had been confined to history.

Lancaster said he is not going to get bogged down in refereeing decisions which might have cost them victory in this one, but is more concerned about the things they should have controlled.

Irish tighthead Finlay Bealham went off early in the game after what Lancaster said was a high hit, while there was a suspicion of a forward pass – or two –leading to the late try which won it for the Welsh side.

“To a certain extent, I’m not as frustrated with that. I’m more frustrated with us, that we allowed ourselves to be put in that position. So I’m not going to sit here and criticise officials when the things are in our control,” said Lancaster.

“We’re disappointed, 21-0 up away from home, playing really well. And then to lose momentum as we did and to allow Ospreys to get back in the game.

“Credit to Ospreys, but obviously very disappointed that we couldn’t get the job done having started so well. The wind was a factor, but I don’t think it was a big factor. The factor for me was the fact that Ospreys began to exert set-piece dominance on our pack of forwards. And as that momentum swung, we couldn’t regain the initiative until we were behind.

“And then we played with a sense of urgency and desperation that we needed to have played with in the middle third. Ospreys were slow to start, but we needed to be more ruthless at that point and take the game away from them, and we didn’t. You could feel the momentum swing. You’ve got to give credit to Ospreys for the way they came back, a proud team, playing at home,” added Lancaster.

His men seemed poised to have the bonus point in the bag by the break in tough conditions but failed to kill off the Ospreys challenge and paid the price in the end.

Connacht led 21-5 at the break having played with the breeze on a raw, cold, dank day at the Brewery Field which was a throwback to old school rugby.

Pictured: Connacht’s Finlay Bealham who was forced to retire after being injured when scoring their first try in Sunday’s disappointing European Challenge Cup loss to Ospreys at the Brewery Field.