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Robin Copeland’s last-gasp try rescued a 27-24 win from the jaws of defeat as Connacht pipped Gloucester in a dramatic Heineken Champions Cup clash at the Sportsground.
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Despite missing some key men, including Danny Cipriani who was pulled from the bench with a bug, Gloucester were on course to complete a Pool Five double over the Irish province thanks to tries from Gerbrandt Grobler, Mark Atkinson (2) and captain Lewis Ludlow.
Connacht’s 10-7 half-time lead was turned into a 24-13 deficit as they stared at a European exit, but with Ludlow in the sin-bin, they delighted the home crowd with converted tries from Shane Delahunt and Copeland during a frantic final six minutes.
The result keeps both sides’ quarter-final hopes alive, although defeating both Toulouse and Montpellier next month is a big ask. Failing to pick up a bonus point across the first four rounds, Connacht sit third in the table on eight points, with Gloucester second thanks to last week’s home win and their haul of five bonuses.
The onus was on Connacht to start the game quickly and their approach was suitably attacking. A high tackle yielded a penalty and young fly-half Conor Fitzgerald made no mistake for a deserved 3-0 lead, despite losing Eoin McKeon to a ninth-minute yellow card.
The momentum was all with Connacht and they began peppering the Gloucester line with phase after phase of pressure. The visitors were defending gamely, but not always legally. Hooker Todd Gleave was shown a yellow card as a glut of penalties saw referee Romain Poite lose patience.
The westerners elected for a scrum from the resulting penalty and, after a number of hard carries from his forwards, scrum half Caolin Blade made up for an earlier disallowed try when he sniped over for a 29th-minute touchdown which Fitzgerald converted.
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THIS COMPETITION!!! ?
?? 75 mins: Connacht 13-24 Gloucester
?? 80 mins: Connacht 25-24 GloucesterIt was win or bust for @connachtrugby and in the last second they pulled out a win!@robocopey puts the finishes touches on a fine team try and it's party time in Galway ? pic.twitter.com/xKOOfoOIxD
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) December 14, 2019
Gloucester finally began to show some attacking incision of their own and were rewarded in the 33rd minute when ex-Munster lock Grobler powered over in the left corner with Billy Twelvetrees adding the extras.
Now just three points down, and after soaking up heavy pressure, the Cherry and Whites stung Connacht with a 50th-minute intercept try. As he sought to counter from deep from a John Porch turnover, Kyle Godwin’s floated pass was picked off by Atkinson and his centre partner Twelvetrees converted for a 12-10 turnaround.
Fitzgerald punished a Ludlow offside by slotting over a penalty on the hour mark, but Gloucester roared back with a beautifully-crafted try.
Milner Skudder says he's "gutted" by his latest setback. https://t.co/rgGm14zPKe
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 14, 2019
Welsh flyer Louis Rees-Zammit made a searing break and stayed in play as his audacious behind-the-back offload found Callum Braley who dished off for Ludlow to gleefully dive over wide on the right.
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Twelvetrees converted and Atkinson soon completed his brace in the right corner, taking out the covering Stephen Kerins with a clever dummy.
Suddenly, Gloucester had a commanding 11-point lead and Connacht were seemingly left to rue their own errors and missed opportunities.
A stunning finale awaited, though, as Ludlow was carded for an intentional knock-on and Connacht took advantage straight away.
Current mood! ? ? pic.twitter.com/nN3paktDkN
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) December 14, 2019
Replacement hooker Delahunt went over for a try which Fitzgerald converted, and Tom Daly, another of the bench players, soared brilliantly to take down the all-important restart.
Revelling in their numerical advantage, Connacht returned to the Gloucester 22 with carry after carry, paving the way for centre Daly to crucially offload from the ground and send Copeland darting over for a classic team try.
With the conversion capping off Fitzgerald’s 12-point contribution, the old Galway stadium erupted in celebration.
Comments on RugbyPass
I wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
1 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
4 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
23 Go to commentsI’m yet to see why Grace would be an ABs contender. He’s pedestrian and lacks the dominance required of a top flight 8.
11 Go to commentsGee my Highlanders were terrible. They have gone backwards since the start of the season. The trouble began when we left Millar behind to prep as the 10 against the Brumbies and he was disconnected from the team that came back from Aussie. We rested Patchell for that game and we blew an avalanche of ball in good attacking positions in the 1st half. Against the Rebels we seem to of gone into a pod system with forwards hanging off from the breakdown leaving Fakatava to secure our ball!
80 Go to commentsPot Kettle, the English and French teams have done it for years.
23 Go to commentsHas virtually played every minute of previous games. Back row of Li Lo Willie , Grace and Blackadder would be the 1. Crusaders issue is a very average 1st 5 who cannot run. Kicking in general play is also below par They need to put Yong Kemara in. He must have so.e talent for them to bring him down from Waikato. Hoehepa would struggle to play in so.e club sided
11 Go to commentsI hope this a good thing making all these changes!
3 Go to commentsThe Hurricanes are good, especially with a decent coach now. However, let’s be real, the Crusaders and Chiefs are clearly a good degree weaker without the players they’ve lost overseas now. The Canes lost one player. It’s also why the aussie teams ‘seem’ to be stronger.
9 Go to commentsOr you could develop your own players instead of constantly taking from the SH competition and weakening it in the process? With all the player and financial resources these unions have compared to SH countries you’d think they could manage that, or is weakening the SH comps and their national sides an added bonus? Probably.
3 Go to commentsNot so fast Aaron, we might need you in black yet lol. God knows he’d be a lot less nerve-racking than hot and (very) cold players like Perofeta. It’s really a shame Reuben Love isn’t playing 10, we’ve got enough 15 options.
4 Go to commentsAnd those from the NH still seem to be puzzled (and delighted) why NZ’s depth isn’t what it once was. Over 600 NZ players overseas, that’s insane. This sort of deal is why Super Rugby coaches have admitted they struggle now to find enough quality to fill out their squads.
6 Go to commentsArticle intéressant ! La question devrait régulièrement se poser pour les jeunes français originaires de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Wallis-et-Futuna et de Polynésie entre la Nouvelle-Zélande et la Métropole… Difficile pour la fédération française de rugby de se positionner : soit le choix est fait de dénicher les jeunes talents et de les faire venir très tôt en Métropole, au risque de les déraciner, soit on prend le risque de se les faire “piller” par les All Blacks qui, telle une araignée, essaye de récupérer tous les talents des îles du Pacifique… À la France de se défendre en développant l’aura du XV de France et des clubs français dans ses collectivités d’Outre-mer !
3 Go to commentsWrong bay. He needs to come to the REAL BAY which is Bay Of Plenty and have a crack at making the Chiefs.
3 Go to commentsIs Barrett going play full back??? They already have all the centers…
16 Go to commentsForgive my ignorance, I might not fully understand so would appreciate clarification: Didn’t the Bulls have to fly with three different carriers, paid for by the South African Rugby Union, whilst Edinburgh got a chartered flight sponsored by EPCR? Also, as far as I understand it South African teams don’t yet share in the revenue from the competition and are not allowed to host Semi-finals or Finals at home. Surely if everyone wants South Africans to “take the competition seriously” then they must make South Africans feel welcome, allow them to share in the revenue, and give them the same levels of access as the teams from the other countries. Just a reminder that South Africa has a large and passionate Rugby audience. Just by virtue of our teams being a part of these competitions means that more of us are likely to watch the knockout games, even if our teams haven’t qualified. It would be silly to alienate such a large audience by making them feel unwelcome.
23 Go to comments