With Swansea city experiencing an Indian Summer the clash between Connacht and the Ospreys kicked off in perfect conditions in the Liberty Stadium and it was the home side that started the brighter with fullback Barry Davies sliding in for a try after just 5 minutes. Outhalf Dan Biggar stood up and slotted the difficult conversion. He added a penalty 15mins later to stretch the Ospreys lea to 10 – 0. That all changed when Niall O’Connor kicked for territory following Richard Fussell’s penalty on the halfway line. Connacht retained the ball through a number of phases and when the Ospreys defence had been sucked in captain Gavin Duffy crashed over after 25mins. O’Connor nailed the touchline conversion to bring the score to 10 – 7. Hanno Dirksen slid in for a try following some slick hands by the Ospreys backline left the winger free in the middle of the pitch. Biggar converted the try. Niall O’Connor added 3 points for Connacht with 3 minutes remaining in the first half and that was how it finished up at half time, Ospreys 17 – 10 Connacht.

The second half was a lively affair with both sides playing wide expansive rugby. Ian Gough was sin-binned for a punch and after 61mins Gavin Duffy scored his 2^nd try of the night. Man of the Match Dan Biggar kicked 3 further penalties during the second half but a penalty and a Niall O’Connor drop-goal brought Connacht to within enough to earn a loosing bonus point and the final score was Ospreys 26-21 Connacht.

Next up for Conncht is an away trip to the RDS next Saturday to take on Leinster

Connacht:

G Duffy ©, B Tuohy, E Griffin, H Fa’afili, T O’Halloran, N O’Connor, F Murphy, B Wilkinson, E Reynecke, D Rogers, M Swift, M McCarthy, TJ Anderson, J O’Connor, J Muldoon

Replacements:

A Flavin, R Loughney, S Maguire, D Gannon, R Ofisa, P O’Donohoe, M Jarvis, J Loxton

Ospreys:

B Davies, R Fussell, T Isaacs, A Bishop, H Dirksen, R Webb, D Jones, R Hibbard, A Jarvis, I Gough, I Evans, T Smith, J Tipuric ©, J Thomas

Replacements:

M Davies, C Griffiths, J Rees, J King, J Bearman, M Morgan, S Parker, K Phillips

Pic (C) www.inpho.ie/HuwEvans

Connacht Rugby have announced the team that will face the Ospreys tomorrow night in the Liberty Stadium.

Following last weekend’s home win over the Dragons Head Coach Eric Elwood has opted to keep the backline unchanged with Gavin Duffy captaining the side from fullback, Eoin Griffin and Henry Fa’afili in the centre and Brian Tuohy and Tiernan O’Halloran on the wings. The halfback pairing of Frank Murphy and Niall O’Connor remains with Paul O’Donohoe and Matthew Jarvis providing cover from the bench along with former Blues winger James Loxton.

A change in the frontrow sees Dylan Rogers replace Rodney Ah You at tighthead. Stuart Maguire covers that position from the bench. Michael Swift has recovered from the illness that ruled him out of contention last week and returns to the starting lineup while Dave Gannon moves to the bench. The other change in the pack sees TJ Anderson making his competitive start for the Province at blindside flanker. The 24 year old Magherafelt-born former Ulsterman replaces Ray Ofisa who moves to the bench. Brett Wilkinson and Ethienne Reynecke join Rogers in the front row with Flavin and Loughney backing them up while Mike McCarthy joins Michael Swift in the second row.

Connacht will be hoping to build on last week’s success over the Dragons in the Sportsground. With 3 wins from 4 the Province currently sit in 3^rd position and a win over the Ospreys would see them leapfrog the Welsh region to second.

Connacht XV to face the Ospreys (Friday 30^th September – Liberty Stadium, Swansea 19.30 – live on S4C)

15 Gavin Duffy (C)

14 Brian Tuohy

13 Eoin Griffin

12 Henry Fa’afili

11 Tiernan O’Halloran

10 Niall O’Connor

9 Frank Murphy

1 Brett Wilkinson

2 Ethienne Reynecke

3 Dylan Rogers

4 Michael Swift

5 Mike McCarthy

6 TJ Anderson

7 Johnny O’Connor

8 John Muldoon

16 Adrian Flavin

17 Ronan Loughney

18 Stewart Maguire

19 Dave Gannon

20 Ray Ofisa

21 Paul O’Donohoe

22 Matthew Jarvis

23 James Loxton

Connacht Rugby pictured during this mornings Captains Run before heading off to Wales to take on the Ospreys

Connemara Unveil Hot Whiskey Stand at the Sportsground

Connemara Whiskey has unveiled a bespoke hot whiskey kiosk which will form part of the hospitality on the new Clan Terrace side of the Sportsground in Galway.

The Connemara Whiskey Kiosk will be open for business at all RadoDirect PRO12 and Heineken Cup home games and Connemara Whiskey has created a special hot chocolate whiskey drink to warm the Connacht Clan’s cockles over the course of the season.

The Connemara Hot Chocolate fuses the smokiness of the Connemara Peated Single Malt Whiskey with the sweetness of chocolate cocoa.  The Connemara Whiskey Kiosk will also serve the traditional hot toddie consisting of Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, lemon, cloves, sugar and piping hot water.

Connemara Whiskey also announced that it has extended its partnership deal with Connacht Rugby.  Connemara Whiskey has been the official spirit of Connacht Rugby since 2009.  All profits from the Connemara Whiskey Kiosk will go to Connacht Rugby to assist with the ongoing funding of activities on and off the field.

Jack Teeling, Managing Director of Cooley Distillery, said, “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Connacht Rugby in what is going to be a very exciting year for the province.  Connemara Whiskey has a lot of exciting activity planned for Connacht fans over the course of the season and we invite everyone to check out our kiosk and try the delicious Connemara Hot Chocolate.”

Gerry Kelly, CEO, Connacht Rugby, commented, “”Connemara Whiskey have been a great partner of Connacht Rugby since 2009 and we are delighted that they have extended their partnership with us.  The addition of their kiosk will help improve the supporters experience on a match day”.

Pictured at the launch of Connemarra Whiskey's Kiosk at the Sportsground are Connacht players TJ Anderosn, Paul O'Donohoe & Tiernan O'Halloran Pics Reg Gordon

The Dragons got off to the better start of this encounter and outhalf Jason Tovey was unlucky when his 2^nd minute penalty rebounded off the posts. He made amends with a 7^th minute penalty as both sides struggled to come to terms with the slippy conditions and a high error count. Niall O’Connor slotted 3 points with a 40m kick shortly after to level things up and despite stealing a number of Dragons lineouts and some clean breaks from Johnny O’Connor, Tiernan O’Halloran and Brian Tuohy Connacht couldn’t convert their possession into points. When the Connacht defence was finally breached it took a covering tackle from Mike McCarthy to bring down Dragons centre Ashley Smith 12m out from the Connacht line. The Dragons were on the front foot though and after a succession of quick rucks prop Nathan Williams bundled over from close range to score the 1^st try of the game after half an hour. Tovey converted to leave the half time score 13 3 to the Dragons.

It only took a couple of minutes for Connacht to fire up their performance in the second half. The forwards won clean ruck ball with some big hits from Ray Ofisa, Ethienne Reynecke and Dave Gannon and it wasn’t long before the badckline were firing on all cylinders with line breaks from Henry Fa’afili, Eoin Griffin and Tiernan O’Halloran to name but a few. Eric Elwood kept the pace of the game flowing with replacements and after 50 minutes, with Dylan Rogers, Adrian Flavin and Ronan Loughney on the park the fresh legs showed. The forwards created the momentum and Tiernan O’Halloran sprinted down the touchline and offloaded to Eoin Griffin to touch down in the corner. Matthew Jarvis, just on for Niall O’Connor, nailed the kick and the Connacht resurgence had well and truly started. TJ Anderson and Paul O’Donohoe both came off the bench and after some deft hands from Gavin Duffy, Adrian Flavin and man of the match John Muldoon and some quick rucking led to captain Gavin Duffy diving in to score Connacht 2^nd try of the match and take the lead for the first time. Jarvis converted and though Connacht dominated the final 20 minutes and won a series of penalties they were unable to score a 3^rd try but ran out deserved 17-13 winners.

Next up for Connacht is an away trip to the Ospreys next Friday night.

Speaking after the match Head Coach Eric Elwood said he was happy with the 4 points but that there was more to come from this young team:

“We’re happy with the result again but a poor first half, never really got into the game and we lacked a bit of intensity in attack and defense and didn’t really show a buzz about ourselves”

“We went in 10 points down deservedly at halftime, then we got the 1^st try and it visibly gave the lads a lift, gave the supporters a lift and they got behind us, we kept playing and got the second score.”

“We made a few changes, got on top in the set piece and I thought the lads who came on did exceptionally well so all in all we’re happy with the result, a bit disappointed with some of the performance but fair play to the lads for showing great character to come back to win the game.”

All pictures (C) www.INPHO.ie/JamesCrombie