Andy Friend hopeful Kieran Marmion will stay at Connacht

Connacht 24 Toyota Cheetahs 22

Connacht coach Andy Friend believes scrumhalf Kieran Marmion still has a future with Ireland, despite missing out on World Cup selection.

Having been left out of Joe Schmidt’s World Cup squad, and with his contract up at the end of this season, 27-year-old Marmion is considering a move from Connacht, with English Premiership outfit Saracens one of several clubs believed to be interested. However, Friend says both Connacht and Ireland still want him involved.

“He is very aware we don’t want him to leave, I think he’s very aware that Ireland do not want him to leave. We would certainly be very, very disappointed if he did leave,” says Friend.

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"There have been a lot of conversations going on behind the scenes. Andy Farrell is the new coach coming in, and I know Andy speaks very highly of him, and definitely sees him as a player he would like to keep involved, and I am assuming he knows [THAT], but he certainly knows we want him."

Marmion, who joined the Connacht Academy through the Irish Exiles programme and played club rugby with Corinthians, made his debut for the province in 2011 and became Conor Murray’s understudy in 2014.

However Friend says missing out on World Cup selection was a “real blow.”

“He’s had four years of planning and believing he was going to be there. It didn’t work for him, selection didn’t go his way, so he’s definitely trying to process all that. Whatever decision he makes we will respect that.”

Marmion scored a try in his first start for Connacht on Saturday, helping them to a 24-22 injury-time win over Toyota Cheetahs at the Sportsground, which sees them go top of the Pro 14’s Conference B table.

The South Africans were left to rue an ill-disciplined final quarter in which they lost centre Dries Swanepoel to a red card and conceded two Tom Farrell tries, ensuring Connacht recorded their third successive bonus-point win this season.

In a high-octane encounter, there were worrying signs for Connacht when they lost their lead in the 55th minute as the visitors took control after reducing a 14-5 half-time deficit.

Outhalf Conor Fitzgerald had galloped through the gap to set up the first try, combining with brother Stephen to send Niyi Adeolokun through for the opening try, which the No 10 converted.

Cheetahs took advantage of two consecutive penalties to touch before hooker Joseph Dweba touched down after 29 minutes. However the home side replied when Adeolokun, in his first start this season, cut a path through the defence before the supporting Marmion finished off for try number two, which Conor Fitzgerald converted for a 14-5 half-time lead.

However after Ruan Pienaar tacked on a penalty and the Pro 14’s top try scorer Rhyno Smith bagged his sixth to this season’s tally, which the scrumhalf converted, the visitors led for the first time.

There was drama aplenty to follow. Connacht’s John Porch was denied a try following an intercept and length-of-the-field sprint before Cheetah’s right wing Clayton Blommetjies extended the South African’s lead to 22-14 with a third try, which Pienaar converted. But after Cheetah’s centre Swanepoel was red-carded, Connacht staged a late comeback with replacement Tom Farrell posting two tries, the second five minutes into injury time, for a memorable bonus point win.

Red card: D Swanepoel 70m

Scoring sequence: 15m Adeolokun try, C Fitzgerald con 7-0; 29m Dweba try 7-5; 37m Marmion try, C Fitzgerald con 14-5 HT 14-5; 45m Pienaar pen 14-8; 55m Smith try, Pienaar con 14-15; 61m Blommetjies try, Pienaar con 14-22; 72m Farrell try 19-22; 85m Farrell try24-22.

Connacht: S Fitzgerald; N Adeolokun, K Godwin, P Robb, J Porch; C Fitzgerald, K Marmio;, D Buckley, T McCartney, F Bealham, G Thornbury, Q Roux, E Masterson, J Butler, P Boyle. Replacements: U Dillane for Thornbury (44), C Gallagher for Roux (51), C Blade for Marmion and D Robertson-McCoy for Bealham (57); D Heffernan for McCartney and T Farrell for Robb (both 60), D Leader for Adeolokun (64), M Burke for Buckley (68).

Toyota Cheetahs: R Smith; C Blommetijies, D Swanepoel, B Janse van Rensburg, A Vomink; T Schoeman, R Pienaar; O Nche, J Dweba, A Coetzee, S Manjezi, W Steenkamp, G Olivier, J Polomela, J Wiese. Replacements: L de Bruin for Coetzee and W Small-Smith for Volmink (both 63), W Arnoldi for Dweba, B Venter for Ox and S Koen for Pokomela (all 72), De Preeze for Steenkamp (74).

Referee: B Whitehouse (WRU).