Connacht coach Kieran Keane was understandably disappointed with his side’s performance in their 39-10 loss to Ospreys on Friday night in the Guinness PRO14.
Tries from Jeff Hassler, Dan Evans, Scott Otten, Ashley Beck and Hanno Dirksen saw the western province suffer a fourth consecutive loss leaving their Champions Cup play-off hopes in tatters.
Connacht are now six points behind Conference A fifth placed Ospreys who have a game in hand. And there’s only games against Glasgow and Leinster left to finish the campaign on a high.
Very disappointing from Connacht.
But on the other hand, Ospreys being very clinical. #OSPvCON
— The Loose Head (@TheLooseH) April 6, 2018
“It was a horrendous night for us,” said Keane to Steffan Thomas on the42.ie. “It was hugely disappointing and the manner in which we played wasn’t good enough. We probably got what we deserved.
“There were far too many mistakes and basic errors in our game and our fundamentals weren’t good enough. We’ve got to get the fundamentals of the game right, especially our lineout throws.
“We got bullied consistently at the breakdown consistently and that was disappointing because the breakdown was a focus area for us. We were a clear second best there.
Connacht seem to be lacking intensity in this game but regardless, the Ospreys seem to have a bit more organisation these days.
Biggar had a few passing options in the build up to that try, which I'm not sure he would have had earlier in the season.#ospvcon
— rugby (@theblitzdefence) April 6, 2018
“The Ospreys forward pack was very good and caused us a lot of angst. They came out on top because of their physicality around that breakdown area.
“I really didn’t see that performance coming and it was as huge shock to the system.
“We’ve just got to get back on the horse and work hard to try and finish the season strongly.”
Connacht’s next game in the Guinness PRO14 is away to Glasgow next Friday (13th April). The game kicks-off in Scotstoun Stadium at 7.35pm.
