The Vodacom Bulls hung on to beat Connacht 27-28 in Limerick, with Connacht scoring the last points with time up on the clock. Despite an early charge on the conversion kick, Sean Naughton could not convert his second attempt to convert and secure the win.
Connacht had a confident start and enjoyed dominance for the first ten minutes of the match. They launched wave after wave of attacks with their big boys, and when they moved the ball out wide, Josh Ioane sliced the Bulls' defence in two to score the first try of the match. Josh Ioane converted to put Connacht in the lead 07-00 after ten minutes of play in the first half.
Two minutes later, the Bulls attacked off the kickoff and, following several players handling the ball, Paul de Wet scored to cut the hosts’ lead to 07-05.
Willie le Roux started a counterattack, and fifty meters later, le Roux scored the Bulls' second try. Johannes converted to extend the Bulls' lead to 12-07 after twenty minutes of play in the first half.
The halftime score was 12-07 with the Bulls leading.
Keagan Johannes converted an early penalty to extend the Bulls' lead to 15-07.
Connacht made a confident start, and Caolin Blade crashed over with two Bulls players on his back. Ioane converted, making it a one-point game with thirty-five minutes still to play in the first half.
The Bulls clawed their way back into the match, and following great interplay, Paul de Wet scored his second try in a surprisingly easy manner. Johannes converted to extend the Bulls' lead to 22-14 after fifteen minutes of play in the second half.
With twenty minutes to play, Johannes converted a second penalty to extend the Bulls’ lead to eleven points.
Connacht started to attack from within their own half down the touchline, and Sean Naughton pounced on a grubber to score Connacht’s third try to cut the Bulls' lead to 25-19 with twelve minutes still to play in the second half.
Johannes added a third penalty, to which Connacht replied immediately when Sean Naughton converted a penalty with six minutes still to play in the second half.
Connacht set up camp in the Bulls' red zone for the final five minutes of the match and launched wave after wave of attacks, and eventually the ball was spread wide to Mack Hansen, who scored in the corner to cut the Bulls' lead to 28-27, which was also the final score.
Teams:
Connacht Rugby: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 Byron Ralson, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Cian Prendergast (c), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley. Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Cathal Forde
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 JJ Theron, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 Reinhardt Ludwig (c), 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni. Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Harold Vorster, 23 Stravino Jacobs.