Josh Caulfield sees red as Connacht claim Champions Cup win over Bristol
Ireland Sevens star Andrew Smith helped Connacht keep their Investec Champions Cup hopes alive as they beat 14-man Bristol to finally open their account.
Smith scored the fourth try in a 27-10 bonus point Pool 1 victory at the Dexcom Stadium with Shayne Bolton, Jack Aungier and Caolin Blade having crossed earlier on a night when the Bears were a man down for 67 minutes after Josh Caulfield’s dismissal for a stamp on Ireland prop Finlay Bealham.
Connacht, looking for their first point of the campaign in their fourth game, got off to the perfect start when winger Bolton crossed with just seven minutes gone, and they were handed a further boost six minutes later when Bears lock Caulfield was sent off for a stamp on Bealham.
Fellow front rower Aungier doubled the home side’s lead with 20 minutes gone and stand-off JJ Hanrahan added the conversion as England prop Kyle Sinckler headed for the sin bin for an offence during the build-up.
AJ MacGinty reduced the deficit with a penalty as Sinckler returned, but the Irish province went in at the break 17-3 ahead courtesy of scrum-half Blade’s jinking run, although it took a last-gasp tackle from David Hawkshaw to prevent Harry Randall from dragging the visitors back into it.
Smith saw an early second-half try ruled out for a toe in touch after a lengthy review, but he was not to be denied and crossed from replacement fly-half Jack Carty’s pass to secure the bonus point with Carty converting successfully.
Bristol centre Kalaveti Ravouvou was adjudged to have lost control of the ball as he touched down and the visitors made a late push during which they mauled the ball towards the Connacht line, but collapsed as the home side responded.
Sinckler spilled the ball inches out after a quick tap-penalty set up a late chance, but after Carty had kicked a late penalty, the Bears pack made the pressure tell as Connacht collapsed a maul and conceded a penalty try.
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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