Connacht 27
Vodacom Bulls 28
Connacht came close to causing an upset, but had to be content with two bonus points against the South African Bulls.
The home side, having been behind by 11 points after 63 minutes, delivered a finish that almost grabbed the honours.
When Reagan Johannes added a 62minute penalty, the visitors led 14-25, and worse was to come when the Bulls scrum sent Connacht backwards.
However, the home side's fortitude came to the fore and they finally delivered a try from a loose kick inside their own half. Cian Prendergast and Byron Ralston took play forward before opting to kick down the line, and fullback Sean Naughton was ready and willing to make the touch down. Adding a penalty a minute later, the gap was down to 22-28 with six minutes remaining before
Josh Ioane, from a scrum, fed Naughton, who once again flew down the touchline before being forced into touch. From then to the 79th minute they rolled up sleeves and fought their way to the line, before spreading the ball for Hansen to finish.That narrowed the score to a single point, but Sean Naughton, charged with delivering the conversion, was inches wide.
In a war of attrition which the visitors handled better in the opening half, the led 7-12 at the break.
Connacht were first on the scoreboard taking advantage of a penalty through outhalf Josh Ioane, but within minutes the Bulls replied.
Catching Connacht by surprise, the visitors ran from deep - their pace and ball handling skills putting Connacht on the backfoot before left wing Paul de Wet crossed for their opening try, outhalf Johaness wide with the conversion.
A lengthy stoppage for suspected foul play resulted in Josh Murphy receiving a red card after reacting to an alleged incident in a ruck, and from the penalty the Bulls took advantage. After some dazzling footwork from the backline, fullback Le Roux crossed, with the conversion added to put them into
Connacht created opportunities, but struggled against the Bulls defence, giving the home side little opportunities to carve any real scoring gaps, while Ioane missed a touchline penalty after 30 minutes.
The South African could have scored a second, once again catching Connacht with the lightning breaking out from the 22. However a Connacht penalty on 34 minutes somewhat relieved the pressure , but the home side simply could not make any impact against a defence that was hugely impactful. A penalty just before the break provided the visitors with another opportunity, and although it fizzled, they would have been the happier going into the break.
The Bulls added to the scoreline with a drop goal from Johannes within the opening minutes of the second half .However Connacht delivered the much -needed score. Attacking from depth, Connacht broke though with Ioane feeding Byron Ralston before finding scrumhalf Caolin Blade who touched down to close the gap to 7-12.
However, Hansen’s kick to the backfield produced the next try for the Bulls as once again they made hay, relishing their counterattack. From Le Roux, Ke Klerk continued to make inroads before de Wet added to their try tally. Two penalties kept the visitors’ tally ticking over until Connacht staged what could have been a winning revival.
10m Ioane try and con 7-0; 13m de Wet try 7-5; 20m, Le Roux try, Johannes con 7-12; HT 7-12 43m Johannes drop goal 7-15; 45m Blade try, Ioane con 14-15; 54m de Wet try, Johannes con 14-22; 63m Johannes pen 14-25; 68 Naughton try Ioane con 19-25; 72m Johannes pen 19-28; 74m Naughton penalty 22-28; 79m Hansen try 27-28.
Connacht: M Hansen, C Mullins, B Ralston, B Aki, S Bolton, J Ioane, C Blade, P Dooley, D Heffernan, F Bealham, D Murray, D O’Connor, J Murphy, C Prendergast (C ), S Jansen. Replacements, D Tierney-Martin, J Duggan for Dooley, (52, J Aungier, S J Joyce, M Devine, S Naughton for Mullins (C Forde for Aki (59 )
Vodacom Bulls: W Le Roux, C Moodie, D Kriel, J Serfontein, S de Klerk, K Johannes, P de Wet, A Tshakaweni, J-H Wessels, W Louw, C Wiewse, R Ludwig (C ), N Xaba, JJ Theron, J Rudloph. Replacements, J Grobbelaar, G Steenekamp, F Klopper, N Janse van Rensburg, M Gumede, E Papier, H Vorster, S Jacobs.
Referee: Mike Adamson.
