| The best of 2010 | |||||
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2010 Memories A New Year brings new challenges for Connacht Rugby, but 2010 will be remembered for many ups and downs. In a recent online poll, Connacht Rugby fans were asked to share their greatest memories of the year gone by. There was a great response from everyone and the staff had many trips down memory lane when sifting through the entries with three lucky fans winning tickets to the February Magners League clash against the high-flying Scarlets. The selection committee had an extremely hard job to pick only three, with some fantastic moments narrowly missing out. In the end they chose a top three: In third place was the unforgettable Amlin Challenge Cup Quarter-Final victory over Bourgoin in the Sportsground. It was a rare sunny day in College Road and a crowd of 3,500 turned out to witness what proved to be one of the games of the season. Connacht had come through the pool stages as top seeds and with a 100% record and were looking for their seventh straight victory in the competition. Bourgoin fought back from a 14-10 halftime deficit to lead 20-14, but a rush of blood to the head of out-half Benjamin Boyet saw the Frenchman receive a yellow card for killing the ball at a ruck. Miah Nikora stepped up with two penalties to level proceedings before a second attempt at a drop-goal in the dying minutes sent The Sportsground into dreamland and Connacht into the semi-final. Youtube/Connacht v Bourgoin. If the Bourgoin match was unforgettable, then memory number two of 2010 was simply epic. It was of course the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final final against Toulon. The French side travelled to Galway with an array of superstars that could grace any team in the world. They were also sitting pretty at the summit of the Top 14 table. The sun was again shining on the record crowd of 7,000 who saw Connacht race into a three point lead in the first minute. Then the dazzling Toulon back line, marshalled by a certain Jonny Wilkinson, began to kick into gear forcing Connacht to make over 50 tackles in the opening 18 minutes alone. When Mafi Kefu crossed the line things were looking pretty ominous for the men in green. But the boot of Ian Keatley matched that of Mr. Wikinson and kept the home side in touch. The last ten minutes of the game saw wave after wave of Connacht pressure on the Toulon Try line, but time after time they were held up short. It wasn’t to be however as the French side narrowly scraped through to a final meeting against the Cardiff Blues. Youtube/Connacht v Toulon The favourite Connacht Rugby memory of 2010 was a special try that was close to winning try of the season. On the 21st of April, Leinster travelled to the Sportsground to play a re-scheduled fixture. It was a Leinster team that included 13 internationals, among them Brian O’Driscoll. Connacht took the lead just before half time through a Brian Touhy try. However the winning moment came on 48 minutes. Andrew Conway sent an aimless kick into the Connacht 22 which landed down the troat of Gavin Duffy. Duffy then went on a defence splitting run that brought him inside the Leinster half before offloading to Fionn Carr who cut back inside and offloaded to John Muldoon. Some quick hands among Aidan Wynne, Michael McCarthy and Brett Wilkonson brought play up to the Leinster 22 on the opposite side. A dashing Miah Nikora break and quick ball to Ronan Loughney gave the ball to Mike McComish in the middle of the pitch. McComish showed great vision to skip Gavin Duffy and pass to Michael Swift who was out on the left wing. Swifty showed the speed of a winger breezing past Richardt Strauss and ran almost 25 metres into the corner to touch down with the covering Andrew Conway on his back. According to the television Commentator it was ‘champage’, ‘Barbarians’ style rugby from Connacht and sent the home fans wild. The try was complememted by another from Troy Nathan to give Connacht a 27-13 win and their second home win over Leinster in two seasons. Watch and Enjoy! |
| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 January 2011 16:50 ) |  |
