Connacht are feeling the pressure to maintain their recent winning form when they host Benetton on Saturday as they continue to pay the price for poor results early in the season.
A much-needed victory over Cardiff has kept them in touch, but they now face an Italian outfit that has been maintaining its position in the top eight and is four points in front on the URC table.
Head coach Pete Wilkins accepts the pressure continues. “Go back a fortnight ago, that was how we were talking about both the Cardiff and Benetton games. And, you know, there’s a pressure because we left ourselves with work to do at this stage of the season.”
However, the rewards could be “massive”, he says. “If we manage to take the maximum from this game we put ourselves in a position where all of a sudden we’re in the top eight and top seeds in the Challenge Cup. The whole narrative around the team changes very quickly, but, equally, we’ve got to do the business.”
With news this week that outhalf JJ Hanrahan is returning to Munster, leaving newcomer Josh Ioane and veteran Jack Carty in situ, Wilkins says at least Connacht now have clarity.
“We’re working through things with Josh and Jack, and we’ll see where we get – a need to go outside or not. At least we’ve got clarity on the JJ situation. I would love for him to stay, but you know he’s made a decision that’s he feels is right for his family at this stage, and we respect that.”
Connacht will hope home advantage will make the difference having lost their last three encounters with Benetton away – two of them convincingly – which knocked Wilkins’s men out of the Challenge Cup, while the third was in the URC with a try at the death.
“They’ve had the mockers over us,” says Wilkins, hoping Connacht’s ability to turn possession into scores continues to improve.
“Key for us really is looking how often we’re getting into the opposition’s 22 and how often we’re getting opportunities at that end of the field, and the improvement has been really significant. But our composure, once we get into that bit of a field, our clarity and our ability to turn those entries into points is really significant.
“At this stage of the season, and particularly in these make-or-break games, like the Cardiff game, like the Benetton game coming up, the knock-out games in Europe, your efficiency once you get to the attacking end of the field, and your ability to get teams leaving without points when they’re at your end, is just so, so significant. So a lot of our time has been focused on those couple of areas.”
Sidelined this week are Sean Jansen (knee), back from Ireland A camp, and Byron Ralston. Wilkins is more optimistic of Jansen’s return in the near future, but Ralston, who is waiting for a scan in the next 48 hours, could spend longer on the sidelines.
Also out of action is Ben Murphy who suffered a broken finger with Ireland A. However, Wilkins says it was a “complicated” break which could keep him out of action for a possible six weeks.
However, good news is the remainder of Connacht’s Ireland A players – Cian Prendergast, Jack Aungier, Shayne Bolton, Cathal Forde and Darragh Murray – are available to start.
