Connacht extended their lead at the top of the GUINNESS PRO12 table with a 28-23 victory away to Edinburgh, who secured a losing bonus point with the final kick of the game. Tries from AJ MacGinty, Jake Heenan and Bundee Aki either side of the break meant Pat Lam’s men enjoyed a 21-5 lead early in the second half. But Damien Hoyland and Cornell du Preez followed Chris Dean’s earlier score to move Edinburgh to within a point of the visitors before Eoin McKeon’s try bonus point finish gave Connacht breathing space. And Sam Hidalgo-Clyne ensured Edinburgh did not finish empty handed with a penalty when the clock had surpassed 80 minutes. The victory was Connacht’s third consecutive away win in the league – the first time they had achieved the feat since the 2002/3 season. They were boosted by the return of Nathan White, who played in all three of Ireland’s Six Nations games last month, while Edinburgh also welcomed back international players Matt Scott, Hidalgo-Clyne and Rory Sutherland. Craig Ronaldson was unable to kick the game’s first points early in the game when Edinburgh were penalised for a high tackle and the centre’s effort from close to the touchline hit the upright. Connacht were the ones applying the pressure on the opposition try line early on but failed to make it count on two occasions, as Kieran Marmion lost the ball in contact and then Edinburgh’s Blair Kinghorn knocked on as he tried to intercept Tiernan O’Halloran’s pass. But Pat Lam’s men did score the game’s first try midway through the first half when a scrum on the five-metre line ended with MacGinty picking a lovely line when the ball was moved to the backs. Craig Ronaldson added the extras. Connacht were dominating the territory and possession and Danie Poolman thought he had scored a second in the corner only for the TMO to rule that he had failed to ground the ball, The pressure continued and when Connacht’s driving maul was pulled down by Anton Bresler just after the half an hour mark, the lock was sent to the sin bin and moments later Jake Heenan went over following a lineout drive. Ronaldson’s fantastic touchline conversion made it 14-0 and although O’Halloran was sent to the bin for a high tackle before the interval, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne missed the penalty and the visitors went into the break with a comfortable lead. The drama continued at the start of the second half as a minute after Bresler returned following his yellow card, Damien Hoyland released Dean on the outside and he touched down, with Hidalgo-Clyne unable to add the extras. But just two minutes later and Connacht grabbed their third try of the game when Bundee Aki spotted a gap and darted through; Ronaldson making it 21-5. Edinburgh were pilling on the pressure though and after a huge driving maul and well-worked move, a perfect passed allowed Hoyland to dot down in the corner and Hidalgo-Clyne made no mistake this time to close the gap to 21-12. The hosts then moved to within a score when du Preez took advantage of a three-on-one in the corner and although Hidalgo-Clyne’s conversion struck the bar, he did reduce the deficit to just a solitary point with a penalty 12 minutes from time. But the momentum shifted once again and a minute after Connacht had one potential try ruled out, they grabbed a bonus point when McKeon broke from the base of the scrum to score and MacGinty added the extras to make it 28-20. It looked as though all of Edinburgh’s endeavour would result in nothing as the Fields of Athenry rang around BT Murrayfield with the clock winding down. But the hosts continued to attack and were awarded a penalty in additional time which Hidalgo-Clyne slotted to secure a losing bonus point. To buy tickets for the GUINNESS PRO12 Grand Final click here. Also follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12.
