John Muldoon suggests Connacht’s win is a stepping stone to greater ambition

Thursday night in the Sportsground looked and sounded like something different. It felt almost like a mission statement, confirmation that Connacht had arrived as a genuinely competitive animal alongside their fellow provinces for the first time, as Anthony Foley admitted afterwards, since the Warren Gatland years.

Regardless of what happens at the RDS between Leinster and Ulster, Connacht were set to make up ground on at least two of their Irish rivals in round 12.

Just by dint of their second win in 42 meetings with Munster dating back to 1986, their four points to nil haul also meant they moved to within five points of Munster, while cementing their place in the top six and with it qualification for next season’s European Champions Cup.

Had there been another defeat, Connacht would have fallen 12 or 13 points adrift of their southern rivals. What’s more a third successive defeat to their three provincial rivals may have reinforced old inferiority complexes and done much to deflate the optimism generated by their stirring first half of the season.

"Maybe, yea," admitted captain John Muldoon. "I suppose this might be a stepping point to looking up instead of looking down. The way we have been over the last few years we have always been looking at the people below us. Maybe it is time we started taking our destiny in our own hands and starting looking up the way and seeing what we can do."

Two massive games

“It is a huge win for us in terms of what has gone on over the last few weeks and we have got two massive games coming up. We have Edinburgh which is a big game for us and then we have what is basically a winner-takes-all (Challenge Cup) quarter-final against Exeter.

“They are flying it at the moment, they are going really well but they have been a quality side for about three years now. That will be a tough, tough game but, yea, it is nice to be on a winning side against a Munster side.”

Sheer desire and intensity were factors in a 24-16 victory that was as deserved as it was overdue. Connacht’s commitment to the cause, and particularly their ball carriers’ work in the collisions (an area where Munster had out-muscled Leinster six days previously), their effective clearing out and willingness to commit to the breakdown at the merest hint of a turnover, ensured they recycled the ball 145 times out of 150.

“At the Sportsground there is a perception out there that we love the wind and rain — we don’t,” said Muldoon. “We haven’t liked the wind and rain for about four years now because we like to move the ball, we like to play with it. But we knew we were going to have to get down and dirty, especially with the way Munster played last week. They really battled and beat Leinster up front so it was always going to be physical with the conditions and I think we just about shaded it.”

75 per cent possession

Connacht did more than shade it, monopolising the ball to such an extent that they had 75 per cent of the possession, and ultimately made Munster tackle themselves into submission as the latter had done to Leinster.

Muldoon led the charge with a remarkable 23 carries, while in a game of trench warfare, Connacht also made seven line breaks to none, with Robbie Henshaw making three and Bundee Aki one in a potent midfield partnership which Muldoon admits is giving Connacht something they've never had before.

“If we’re honest, we didn’t have that cutting edge in the past. Our pack was able to match anyone here but we didn’t have that little bit of X Factor and now we do. It’s getting better because everyone is getting to know each other a little better, Bundee (Aki) and Mils (Muliaina) are relatively new into the system. We’re forming partnerships and relationships and we’re able to change the team around which has never really happened before.”

“George (Naopau) has probably been one of our best players for the first three or four months of the season and he didn’t start tonight. That’s unheard of in Connacht. You don’t leave one of your best players on the bench. But Willie (Faloon) played very well last week up in Ulster and very well again tonight. Dave McSharry was November player of the month and he hasn’t started a game since.”