Benneton Treviso 24 - 17 Connacht - Treviso Hold Firm
By Sea_point
October 31 2010
Rob Murphy covering the game for Galway Bay FM reports on Connacht's unsuccessful first visit to Italian side Treviso for www.knockon.ie . "It was a case of ‘could be worse, could be better’ for Connacht in the north east of Italy on Saturday evening. The losing bonus point was probably a fair reflection on the contest but they had chances to win all the same in a full spirited but scrappy encounter at the Stadio di Monigo."
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Connacht’s away form has improved dramatically this season, six points garnered from four games but another six have slipped from their grasp at different junctures. There was that last gasp defeat in Llanelli which cost them three points and on Saturday they had a lineout in the home 22’ with five minutes remaining and trailing by four but an avoidable turnover put pay to their hopes.
Chances have been missed then yet the mantra is simple from Head Coach Eric Elwood at the moment, his side are achieving their goal of been competitive in every game (their biggest defeat has been 12 points). Treviso were formidable opponents with eleven players in the current Italian squad and a formidable home record in their debut Magners League season.
Connacht started with an Adrian Flavin try off a neatly worked move from the Treviso five metre line which involved a tap down off the top by Mike McCarthy and a quick move on the blindside to release Adrian Flavin for the score, Keatley converted for a dream start.
Treviso settled soon after and scored the next 16 points. The unerring boot of Tobias Botes did most of the damage while out half Krist Burton crashed over for a try after sustained pressure inspired by a break from the brilliant number 8 Robert Barbieri.
Ian Keatley responded to the onslaught just before the break for a creaking Connacht. However within minutes of the restart, the home side scored a second try from Ludovico Nitoglia after a kick through from Brendan Willaims and the game seemed up for the visitors.
Yet the tide turned around the hour mark as a string of Treviso replacements broke up their rhythm while the Connacht changes seemed to breath new life into the challenge.
The star performer for the visitors was Fionn Carr and his break from inside his own half instigated their second try. Frank Murphy ran a brilliant support line and his pass found Niva Ta’auso out wide to canter home for a crucial try which Keatley converted.
In a tense finale, Connacht fumbled a lineout in the Treviso 22 while Tobias Botes nailed a late penalty to stretch the lead to seven. It meant Connacht gathered the losing bonus point which could turn out to be very important later in the season but they also went home feeling as though a chance slipped away in those closing minutes.
Injury News: The injury news is mixed, Ray it seems ok, he went to hospital and the x-ray revealed no major damage to cheekbone. Not sure of the details but Niva Ta'auso also got a bang to the jaw and they're concerned currently that it could be more serious than Ray.
Benetton Treviso: B Williams; L Nitoglia, T Benvenuti, G Garcia, J Maddock; K Burton, T Botes; I Fernandez Rouyet, L Ghiraldini, P Di Santo, A Pavanello, C Van Zyl, B Vermaak, A Zanni, R Barbieri.
Replacements: A Sgarbi for Garcia 70 mins; L Cittadini for Fernandez Rouyet 50 mins; F Sbaraglini for Ghiraldini 50 mins; M Muccignat for Di Santo 50 mins; Fernandez Rouyet for Muccigant 75 mins; S Picone for Vermaak 61 mins.
Connacht: G Duffy; D Fanning, N Ta’auso, K Matthews, F Carr; I Keatley, C Willis; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, J Hagan, M Swift, M McCarthy, J O’Connor, R Ofisa, J Muldoon .
Replacements: E Taylore for Ofisa 28 mins; T Nathan for Fanning 45 mins; B Fa’amausili for Hagen 46 mins; B Upton for Taylor 52 mins; F Murphy for Willis 57 mins; R Loughney for Wilkinson 64 mins; M Nikora for Keatley 65 mins; D Murphy for Ta’auso 68 mins.
Referee: T Hayes (Wales).
Interview:
Conacht Director of Rugby - Eric Elwood:
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The injury news is mixed, Ray seems ok, he went to hospital and the xray revealed no major damage to cheekbone. Not sure of the details but Niva Ta'auso also got a bang to the jaw and they're concerned that it could be more serious than Ray.
I see the future, and it's Green again...
Quote:Rob finished with...
but they also went home feeling as though a chance slipped away in those closing minutes.
The chance actually slipped away earlier. The Italians nearly paid a price for making a raft of changes too early. Connacht made too many errors, their lineout was not at it's best and Keatley has seen better days. What the team should be feeling is had they played to their best and pushed on from their early lead they would have, in all likelihood, beaten a good Treviso team at home. They really need a good return from the next group of ML games to keep this season from petering out.