Connacht recovered from an unanswered 27-point second-quarter salvo from the Sharks with a 26-point second-half charge of their own to secure a 36-30 win.
The Sharks did secure a deserving bonus point, while Connacht’s bonus point win has given them seven points from two games and rewarded their ambitious rugby with some early season momentum.
After flying out of the blocks, Connacht were overwhelmed by the Sharks’ typical amalgam of ferocious defensive line speed, fierce counter-rucking, big carrying and long-range kicking. They looked altogether more battle-hardened after their nine-game winning run to Currie Cup glory only a week ago before their travels took their toll.
Even so, Connacht will take a huge amount of self-belief from this important, early-season statement win, which will help dispel fears that the three-sided Dexcom may suffer as it is being redeveloped this season.
Their composure and four-try salvo in the second half was a reflection of their varied attack, with a critical couple of tries by Dave Heffernan from John Muldoon’s well-drilled catch-and-drives. The 6-2 bench split was vindicated as Cathal Forde slipped seamlessly into outhalf for the second half and all the forward replacements had a significant impact.
As important in their second-half comeback was a much improved defensive effort, epitomised by the late turnover penalties which Paul Boyle and Dylan Tierney-Martin earned to see the Sharks off.
Scorers:
Connacht Rugby: Tries: Dave Heffernan, Cathal Forde, Dave Heffernan, Shane Jennings, Oisín Dowling. Conversions: Josh Ioane, Cathal Forde (3).
Hollywoodbets Sharks: Tries: Andre Esterhuizen (2), Gerbrandt Grobler. Conversions: Siya Masuku (3). Penalties: Jordan Hendrikse (3).
Teams:
Connacht Rugby: 15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shane Jennings, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Cian Prendergast (c), 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley. Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 Paul Boyle.
Hollywoodbets Sharks: 15 Jordan Hendrikse, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka (c), 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Reniel Hugo, 21 Tino Mavesere, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Gurshwin Wehr.