Connacht player ratings vs Leinster | 2026/27 URC

Connacht player ratings: Stuart Lancaster’s Connacht came into the sold-out Dexcom Stadium expecting to end a miserable run of defeats against Leinster and many fancied them to do just that against an inexperienced visiting side. Instead, they were second best almost everywhere. Leinster were sharper, more organised and struck with far greater accuracy when opportunities appeared.

The weather deteriorated, the pressure increased and Connacht simply unravelled. By full-time the 50-5 scoreline felt entirely deserved, with only a handful of home players emerging with much credit from a bruising evening in Galway.

15. Josh Ioane – 5
Looked to get involved from deep and faced an avalanche of pressure throughout. Made some decent contributions from the backfield and probably held up better than most around him, but it was a long evening.

14. Shayne Bolton – 3
A night to forget. Produced a huge hit on James Culhane early on but that was about as good as it got. Missed multiple tackles, was second best in numerous one-on-ones and spent much of the game chasing Leinster runners. Some big contacts couldn’t paper over a shabby outing.

13. John Devine – 5
One of Connacht’s most effective carriers, although that was a fairly low bar on this occasion. Worked hard and searched for momentum when precious little was available.

12. Cathal Forde – 4
Largely anonymous for long stretches. Produced a little more involvement later on but by then the damage had long been done. Connacht needed far more from a player of his quality.

11. Daniel Ryan – 5
Didn’t see a huge amount of ball but battled away in difficult circumstances. Defensively solid enough without making a major impact.

10. Sean Naughton – 4
One excellent touchfinder stood out early on. Unfortunately, he often looked lost afterwards as Leinster repeatedly outfoxed and outflanked Connacht. An ocean between him and Joey Carbery.

9. Caolin Blade – 3
More butterknife than Blade. Started well enough with some excellent kicking from the base. Then things unravelled spectacularly. Kicked one ball straight out on the full and then repeated the trick from a restart. His game just slowly disintegrated.

1. Francois van Wyk – 6
Did little wrong and matched Niall Smyth reasonably well despite the huge gulf in professional experience. Defensively diligent throughout.

2. Dave Heffernan – 6.5
Must accept some responsibility for the lineout woes after Leinster repeatedly got into Connacht’s throwing game. That said, he still crashed over from the maul and was one of the few forwards who genuinely fought throughout.

3. Finlay Bealham – 5.5
With over 600 professional appearances spread across the Connacht front row, you’d have expected him to teach Alex Usanov a lesson. Instead, the rookie arguably edged the contest. Not disastrous but below his usual standards.

4. Josh Murphy – 5
Far too many errors deleted much of his good work. Spilled possession at key moments and never really imposed himself despite occasional flashes.

5. David O’Connor – 5
One of Connacht’s better performers – which isn’t saying much. Threw himself arond and never stopped working despite the scoreboard.

6. Sean O’Brien – 5
A relatively quiet outing and took a few heavy shots. Never really got the chance to impose himself.

7. Will Connors – 6.5
Facing his old province, he showed flashes of the qualities that won him Ireland caps. Produced a lovely turnover and worked hard throughout, though he was largely living off scraps. Getting handed off by JJ Kenny will have hurt.

8. Paul Boyle – 5
His defensive work-rate couldn’t be questioned but Connacht needed their captain to do more with ball in hand and around the breakdown. A frustrating night.

Replacements – 5
Niall Murray reached his 100th appearance milestone and brought some fight from the bench. Unfortunately, the replacements couldn’t halt Leinster’s momentum. Matthew Victory’s late knock-on summed up the evening, while Finn Treacy, Colm Reilly and the rest struggled to shift the direction of travel as the visitors finished strongly.