Good to be back out west

Good to be back out west

Gavin Duffy

AFTER Connacht’s defeat to Leinster we had two weeks to prepare for last Saturday’s clash with Cardiff. We focused on the positives from that game and looked at ways of ensuring that we close out games when we are in a position to win.
The need to be ‘streetwise’ in such close contests was re-iterated and to do that we talked about the need to look after the ball for longer spells. This means going through eight or nine phases with ball in hand and establishing ourselves in the game rather than kicking it away early. 
I think aspects of that work were evident on Saturday in the 16-16 draw with the Blues, especially in the lead-up to the try. We were retaining position well through multiple phases and it paid off with a good score under the posts.
Coming into the game, we were aware that we only had two home games left. We wanted to get two wins on the board to build some momentum for the away trips to the Dragons and Llanelli and finish the season on a high.
The lads feel that a lot of games have slipped away from us this season and the table doesn’t really reflect our form. We feel that if we can go on a good run over the next couple of weeks it will build confidence for the new season.
Conceding a try in the first couple of minutes was a big blow to us but there was no way we weren’t going to react positively to it. Michael Bradley had said to us beforehand no matter who Connacht play we make them work for every point at the Sportsground and fight to the very end and I think we did that.
Mark McHugh was injured very early on and I moved into the outside centre position.  I haven’t played there for a while and I think defensively it took me a couple of minutes to adjust. I got caught out of position a couple of times and missed a tackle in the wide channel and fell off another, which was frustrating.  The lads were shouting ‘who is missing those tackles in the centre?’ and I had to hold my hand up and say ‘yeah, that was me’. However, I had John Hearty inside me. He’s a good centre and we talked to each other a got the hang of it very quickly after that.
Going forward we used the ball very well and got it through the hands quickly which opened things up for Ray Ofisa’s try. We had Irish skills coach Brian McLoughlin down in training during the week and we picked up a fair bit from those sessions regarding staying on your feet, continuity in moves and off-loading in the tackle, which we put to work on Saturday. 
We were happy to get a draw considering they had two great chances to win it with Ben Blair in injury time. I couldn’t believe he missed the first kick – he really didn’t strike it well at all. But then we scrambled it into touch thinking it was full time and they got another chance and a penalty, which he also missed.
So in the end it was a relief. But we had the majority of territory and possession in the second half and we were camped on their line in the final ten minutes and should have got a score out of that. So we certainly deserved a draw.
I am really enjoying being back home with Connacht and my confidence is back after the last couple of games. There are one or two things I want to work on in the next week and hopefully I’ll continue to improve for the Glasgow game next Friday night.
We really want to give the supporters something to feel good about next week and round off our last home game with a victory. The lads have been telling me that the support this season has been excellent and attendances are at an all-time high, so we want to finish off the home campaign with a victory for them.
Glasgow beat Leinster last weekend (which shows what can happen in this league) and they reached the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup. So we will have to play well to beat them and it would be a really good scalp to take. 
Finally, it’s great to see so many Connacht players involved with the Irish U18 side which beat England and drew with France this week. That’s a serious boost to rugby in the province and I think it’s a clear sign that the hard work being done a development level is really beginning to pay off.
You also had a Connacht coach involved with the back room team in Jimmy Duffy. That’s another really good sign of how much good work is being done in the province.  As well as Jimmy, we have had Nigel Carolan, Dan McFarland, Eric Elwood and Michael Bradley all involved with the various national teams.
So perhaps all the hard work being put into the development squad at U15 right up to U-20 will see a lot of these players make the step-up to professional rugby. Hopefully we will see more and more local players representing Connacht in the coming years.

In an interview with Rob Murphy