Paul Boyle hat-trick leads Connacht to win over Benetton
Paul Boyle celebrated his first time captaining Connacht with a hat-trick of tries in their 31-14 Guinness PRO14 win over Benetton at the Sportsground. Backed by a very strong wind, Connacht led 24-7 at half-time thanks to number eight Boyle’s brace and further scores from wingers Peter Sullivan and Alex Wootton.
Prop Filippo Alongi replied for Benetton, albeit that Tommaso Benevenuti’s subsequent sin-binning saw his side leak two tries.
With their bonus point in the bag, Boyle sealed his hat-trick in the 53rd minute as the black-clad hosts moved into second place in Conference B. Benetton had a late consolation score from captain Dewaldt Duvenage.
There were some bright moments early on for Benetton, suitably attired in an eye-catching all-yellow kit, but their scrum quickly started leaking penalties.
Caolin Blade was held up before Boyle crashed over from a five-metre scrum for his 13th-minute opener, converted by Conor Fitzgerald.
Backs and forwards then combined in a 23rd-minute lineout drive to propel Sullivan over the line for his first try for the Irish province.
The Italians closed the deficit to five points soon after, Ratuva Tavuyara reacting impressively to a partially blocked kick before Marco Barbini carried forcefully and Alongi duly drove over from a few metres out.
The try, converted by Ian Keatley, stood in spite of a post-score lunge by Benvenuti on a prone Gavin Thornbury. The TMO review highlighted him leading with his shoulder.
The Benetton centre’s yellow card was hugely costly for the visitors, as Connacht went wide to the left and Sullivan’s well-timed pass sent Wootton over on the half-hour mark.
Fly-half Fitzgerald was able to convert Boyle’s second score of the night, close to the interval. A blindside gap appeared from a scrum and the deceptively-quick Connacht skipper evaded Callum Braley to establish a 17-point advantage.
Despite struggling initially with their discipline on the restart, Connacht almost scored from a quick-witted counter attack. TMO Joy Neville ruled that Eoghan Masterson was held up.
Nonetheless, from the resulting scrum, Connacht wore down the Benetton defence and player-of-the-match Boyle, ably supported by two team-mates, powered over from close range to make it 31-7.
A promising Fitzgerald break was the highlight of a final quarter that was scoreless until his opposite number Duvenage went over from a quickly-taken 77th-minute penalty. The South African also converted.
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It certainly needs to be cherished. Despite Nick (and you) highlighting their usefulness for teams like Australia (and obviously those in France they find form with) I (mention it general in those articles) say that I fear the game is just not setup in Aus and NZ to appreciate nor maximise their strengths. The French game should continue to be the destination of the biggest and most gifted athletes but it might improve elsewhere too.
I just have an idea it needs a whole team focus to make work. I also have an idea what the opposite applies with players in general. I feel like French backs and halves can be very small and quick, were as here everyone is made to fit in a model physique. Louis was some 10 and 20 kg smaller that his opposition and we just do not have that time of player in our game anymore. I'm dying out for a fast wing to appear on the All Blacks radar.
But I, and my thoughts on body size in particular, could be part of the same indoctrination that goes on with player physiques by the establishment in my parts (country).
Go to commentsHis best years were 2018 and he wasn't good enough to win the World Cup in 2023! (Although he was voted as the best player in the world in 2023)
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