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Ackermann unhappy as Gloucester suffer late panic attack against Connacht
By Ian Cameron
Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann bemoaned the panic that set into their defence late on in their 27-24 Heineken Champions Cup defeat away to Connacht.
Leading by 11 points and with the try bonus point secured thanks to touchdowns from Gerbrandt Grobler, Mark Atkinson (two) and captain Lewis Ludlow, the Cherry and Whites were on course for a very fruitful afternoon’s work at the Sportsground.
However, a yellow card for Ludlow gave Connacht a route back into the match and late tries from replacements Shane Delahunt and Robin Copeland sealed a dramatic comeback victory.
Despite his issue with his defence becoming narrow under duress and the game management during the final few minutes, Ackermann was nonetheless proud of his side’s effort.
“First of all, I’m proud of the players and the effort they put in there,” said the South African, with Gloucester currently second in Pool Five on nine points, one ahead of fourth-round winners Connacht.
“Credit must go to Connacht for scoring the two tries when they needed them – especially the last one I felt was quite special, the way they held onto the ball.
“We probably panicked a bit. If you look at how good our defence was for the whole game and then suddenly we were tight in our defence. We missed a few tackles and they got the try they needed to win the game.
“Saying that we didn’t use the conditions as well as we could. Especially when we had the lead. It is a tough wind that goes into the corner and we played for a lot of time in our half and then there were three crucial (Connacht) penalties. Our discipline was obviously a big thing.”
Connacht head coach Andy Friend praised the attitude of his team as they manufactured a win despite trailing 24-13 with only six minutes remaining.
The westerners will have to target bonus point wins over Toulouse (home) and Montpellier (away) in their remaining pool games, but their quarter-final hopes are at least still alive heading into the New Year.
“We’re still in the competition which is the main thing,” admitted Friend.
“We could’ve done with one more point (with a fourth try) but that was still pretty special.
“The team never gives up, you know they’re not gonna give up. Once we got that try, the second-to-last try, we thought, ‘hang on, we have a shot here’.
“There were only two minutes to go and I thought that was a pretty special passage of play, the offload from Tom (Daly) that goes to Robin Copeland. Great reward for what was a really gutsy last two minutes of football.”
Press Association
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Latest Comments
And Scott Robertson not going so well is he.
Not a bad effort but a correction. McKenzie was not born in NSW so is not a Tah. He was born in Victoria. Played for the Brumbies and coached Qld and also played and then later coached NSW, until the self entitled Tah players decided to stab him in the back. And who was the captain of the Tahs at the time leading the back stabbing. Well, well it was none other than Phil Waugh, current Rugby Australia CEO. Who recently tried to deny he had met Suallii at Hamish McLennan's house pre signing, until McLennan outed him recently as a bald faced liar as he was in fact there.
I doubt very much if McKenzie, who was also assistant coach to Eddie Jones in Jones first stint coaching Australia, would appreciate being labelled a Tah, given it was the Tahs Hooper and Beale and Cheika who stabbed him in the back again when he walked away thru lack of support from Hooper and Rugby Australia.
Schmidt might have theoretically better credentials, even tho he dumped Ireland in the brink but he had to start somewhere. You can't argue if you think he is great that Schmidt should never have been given an opportunity.
Schmidt lacks a crucial ingredient. He's not Australian. It does matter, which as a Bokke you would well know.
Go to commentsBecause the two guys primarily in charge of hiring a new coach for Rugby Australia Peter Horne and Phil Waugh, are Tahs. The Chairman of Rugby Australia Daaniel Herbert is from Qld but he's not that bright and weak.
Horne was good friends with Schmidt and they knew if they hired him on a million dollars a year they would own him and he would select Tah players who shouldn't be there . Like Jake Gordon (4th or 5th best halfback in Australia) and similarly for Donaldson). The Tahs are all about being able to brag how many Wallabies they have, even if the Wallabies keep losing because of it. Michael Hooper, the worst Wallaby captain in decades a prime example. He made Taine Randall look great.
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