United Rugby Championship: Connacht withstand Ospreys fightback to secure 34-26 win

Connacht prepare to launch an attack during the first half at the Sportsground

Connacht withstood a stirring second-half fightback from Ospreys to ensure Pete Wilkins' tenure as head coach began with a 34-26 victory in Galway.

Caolin Blade's first-half hat-trick of tries helped the Irish province to a healthy 27-5 lead at the interval.

Cathal Forde was Connacht's other try-scorer in the second half, his touchdown helping to ensure the win,

Keelan Giles, Reuben Morgan-Williams, James Ratti and Rhys Davies crossed to ensure Ospreys salvaged a bonus point.

JJ Hanrahan got the scoreboard ticking over with his first points for Connacht courtesy of two penalties in the first 10 minutes.

The hosts' first try followed soon after when a Cian Prendergast carry got them over the gain-line, before the ball was moved wide and after Hanrahan passed to Tom Farrell, the centre found a gap in midfield and fed the ball inside for Blade to score. Hanrahan added the first of his four conversions.

Ten minutes later came a score out of nothing after a dropped ball in midfield, Forde breaking through the home defence and providing the pass to Blade, who weaved his way past several players before touching down under the posts.

Blade's hat-trick try was another example of simplicity as man-of-the-match Joe Joyce popped the ball inside for the scrum-half to run in and score.

On the stroke of half-time, wing Giles reduced Ospreys' deficit when he outpaced Andrew Smith and went in behind the posts to dot down.

The home side's revival continued after the break when scrum-half Morgan-Williams finished off Jack Walsh's break by running in for the score, Walsh converting.

Ospreys' arrears became just eight points when flanker Ratti barged over, stretching out just enough to get the ball over the whitewash and Walsh splitting the posts with the conversion.

Last year's semi-finalists hit back just before the half-hour mark as determined centre Forde displayed pace and power to steamroller his way over, breaking through several attempted tackles on his way to the line.

Five minutes from time a period of sustained pressure and enterprising play by the battling Ospreys ended with second row Davies burrowing over for his side's bonus-point score, Walsh's subsequent kick again on target.

A bonus point was some consolation for a much improved second-half display by the Welsh side.

Ospreys coach Toby Booth told S4C: "We were a little bit rabbit in the headlights [in the first half], new group, younger players and these are the margins. You come to a place like this and if they see you're a bit passive, they'll go over the top of you.

"Then we found our feet, bit of self-belief and thought, 'we can compete here'. The youngsters came on and brought a lot of energy because they had no respect for anyone which was great and infectious, and we looked a lot better for it.

"We were delighted to get something from what looked like an impossible task and I think we might rue what might have been here."

Connacht: Andrew Smith; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Cathal Forde, Byron Ralston; JJ Hanrahan, Caolin Blade (capt); Denis Buckley, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jack Aungier, Oisin Dowling, Joe Joyce, Cian Prendergast, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Jarrad Butler.

Replacements: Tadgh McElroy, Peter Dooley, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Niall Murray, Sean O'Brien, Colm Reilly, Jack Carty, Liam McNamara.

Ospreys: Max Nagy; Luke Morgan, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles; Owen Williams, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Garyn Phillips, Ethan Lewis, Tom Botha, Rhys Davies, Will Griffiths, James Ratti, Justin Tipuric (capt), Morgan Morris.

Replacements: Lewis Lloyd, Rhys Henry, Ben Warren, Huw Sutton, Harri Deaves, Luke Davies, Jack Walsh, Dom Morris.

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)

Assistant referees: Dan Carson & Tomas O'Sullivan (IRFU)

TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)