Connacht coach Andy Friend was delighted with the platform his forwards laid in his side’s 20-11 win against Irish rivals Munster.
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Friend’s side desperately needed a win after a difficult tour to South Africa early on in the United Rugby Championship.
Connacht was brilliant on what was the first game on their new all-weather pitch at the Sportsground in Galway, adding to Munster’s woes as the Limerick-based club is still finding their feet after a change in coaching staff ahead of this season.
Happy to get over the line
Friend said despite the win not being perfect. He was pleased his side could get over the line, particularly against another Irish province.
“Yeah, happy with that,” Friend said. “We said coming into the game we needed to win and we’re now talking about the fact that we got a win.
“It wasn’t perfect, we know that, but it was a win, it was an interpro win, it was our first home game on our new pitch and in front of our fans and friends and supporters here. It’s a great way to start the weekend.”
Friend claimed his side’s physicality was crucial to the result and was an aspect of their game he hoped to get right in the all-Irish clash.
“I just thought our physicality. I thought our forward pack laid a really good platform for us and I thought for the majority of the game we dominated the physicality.
“That was what we said coming into the game, that it was the team that was going to be the most physical, the most disciplined, and have the least amount of unforced errors, and I think on two of those fronts it was us. I don’t know about the unforced errors yet, I haven’t seen those stats, but I thought we were the team that delivered on that front too.”
Frustrated with half-time score
Although Connacht claimed the win, Friend admits his side struggled at time and was frustrated not to be leading at half-time.
“It wasn’t, and you could see both teams were nervous because both teams haven’t really clicked at the front end of the season for various reasons.
“But I thought the forward pack as I said just laid the platform for us and got us on the front foot, and going in at 8-5 down at half-time was frustrating because you were scratching your head thinking ‘how are we behind?’”
“Then they get an early penalty so it’s 11-5. ‘Jeeze, here we go again.’ Then we get the try but even right to the death there, we came down on their line, give away a penalty and I’m thinking ‘I’ve seen this happen before’ but thankfully it didn’t happen and we managed to get another try ourselves.
“So it’s a great way to finish the game and a nice way to get our season started.”