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Bien plus habitué que son adversaire et voisin du LOU
The last time these two teams met in the quarter-final stages of the Challenge Cup the current Grenoble coach Bernard Jackman and team manager Andrew Farley were in the Connacht ranks.
The Irish province won 26-21 in France and then followed that up with a 19-3 home win in the second leg to reach the semi-finals for the second successive season. Now the two men will be plotting the downfall of Pat Lam’s side as they seek to go further than ever before in Europe.
This season, of course, there will be only one game and even though Connacht have been at the top of the Guinness PRO12 ever since September – their defeat at Ulster last weekend saw them slip to second – their trip to Stade des Alpes is likely to be one of the toughest away games of the season.
The prize for the winners is an away trip to face either Harlequins or London Irish, with the ultimate goal being to win the title for the first time and clinch a ticket into the Champions Cup next season. Connacht may already be two-thirds of the way there already thanks to their form in the PRO12, but Grenoble are currently seven points short of a top six finish in the Top 14.
“There is a huge amount of interest in the Challenge Cup quarter-final and I know the Connacht fans will be travelling in big numbers. The atmosphere at Stade des Alpes is going to be magnificent,” said Jackman.
“It is going to be a massive occasion for the town and the club and, having reached the last eight, the target now has to be to go all the way to the final in Lyon. It is only an hour up the road and it would be a great moment for the club to reach a European final.
“To do that it is important that we don’t lose our ambition as a team and continue to look to express ourselves. It is easy to coach conservative rugby, but that’s not what we are looking for at Grenoble.
“But if you preach attacking rugby you need good structure in your side and to give the team a solid platform off which to work off. We are getting there and there is huge excitement throughout the club about what we might be able to achieve in Europe.”
Grenoble fought back from being 15-11 adrift at half-time in Oyonnax last weekend and then had a 78th minute try from Rory Grice, converted by Jonathan Wisniewski, to win the game at the death, 27-20. Connacht were beaten 18-10 at the Kingspan Stadium by Ulster, but remain second in the PRO12 table with the same number of points, 63, as Leinster.
Shane O’Leary made his full debut t outside half, easing Lam’s worries after losing three No 10s, and academy centre Peter Robb played the full 80 minutes.
Notes
- The clubs have met before in the Challenge Cup, with Connacht winning both legs in the 2005 quarter-finals.
- Connacht have won only one of their last seven knockout fixtures in the Challenge Cup, although that sole victory was against TOP 14 opposition (Bourgoin in 2010).
- Grenoble have won their last five straight matches, a sixth straight win would double their previous best streak in European competition.
- Connacht were defeated in their last two away fixtures in the Challenge Cup – the last time they lost three away games in a Challenge Cup campaign was in 2006/07.
- Connacht have won seven of their last eight matches against TOP 14 opponents in the Challenge Cup, though their last match against a French club was a 21-18 defeat by Brive in Round 5.
- Grenoble won all their home games in the pool stage for the first time in their Challenge Cup history. However, they conceded 154 points, the most of any team to make it through to the knockout stage.
- Connacht conceded only two tries in the first half of matches during the pool stage the fewest of any team in the competition.
- At 89%, Grenoble are the most accurate goalkicking side in the campaign to date and they are 10% more accurate than the next best remaining club (Gloucester – 79%).
- Gilles Bosch successfully slotted all 11 of his kicks at goal in the pool stage, the most of any player not to miss a kick at goal.
Jonathan Wisniewski kicked Connacht to a one point defeat in the European Rugby Challenge Cup to bag a win against the odds for Grenoble and earn the Top 14 club an away semi-final trip to Harlequins. - 09/04/2016 22:34
Jonathan Wisniewski kicked Connacht to a one point defeat in the European Rugby Challenge Cup to bag a win against the odds for Grenoble and earn the Top 14 club an away semi-final trip to Harlequins.
The home side had to recover from a 16 point deficit in the first-half and then had to close a 13 point gap in the second half as the Guinness PRO12 side scored four tries.
But the Grenoble outside half waltzed over for a magical first-half try and kicked every kick he was given – including a touchline conversion and drop goal to regain the lead with five minutes left to play.
Connacht will be kicking themselves for not consolidating their lead in both halves. The Irishmen sought space on the flanks all night and they found the first gap in the 10th minute when a long, cut-out pass from Bundee Aki put Matt Healy into space.
The full back’s pace created a simple two-on-one situation in the home 22 and he expertly released flying wing Niyi Adeolokun or the first of his two tries. Shane O’Leary added the conversion and the outside half then pass-kicked across the home 22 to release Robbie Henshaw for a second try.
Wisniewski managed a penalty to split those two, but the home side were rocked when Healy paved the way for a third try, and a second for his right wing Adeolokun, with another fantastic break. O’Leary added the conversion and Connacht were flying at 19-3 with 10 minutes to go to the break.
But then came the errors that enabled Grenoble to cut the gap to three points by the break. Inspired by his success with his kick for Henshaw’s try, O’Leary tried the same in his 22 and the move went wrong. Grenoble got a toe hold in the 22 and it led to Wisniewski threading his way through the eye of a needle to score a try at the posts which he also converted.
The home outside half then kicked a penalty and added another from long range to bring the first half to an end with Connacht leading only 19-16. Things improved for the visitors at the start of the second half with another wonder break from Healy for a fourth try.
O’Leary converted and then added a penalty to re-establish a 13 points lead at 29-26 after 53 minutes. But Grenoble came thundering back into the contest on the hour and when Connacht prop Denis Buckley was sent to the sin-bin for coming into a ruck to prevent a try on his own line the home team smelt blood.
They used their extra numbers to create space for wing Lucas Dupont to score and then livewire flanker Mahamadou Diaby crossed in the right corner. Wisniewski, cool as a cucumber, converted them both to edge his side ahead, 30-29.
Back came Connacht with a penalty from replacement scrum half John Cooney moments later, but Wisniewski wasn’t in the mood to be outdone and slipped back into the pocket to win the game with his 75th minute drop goal.
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