Elwood Targets Glasgow Victory

Eric Elwood

CONNACHT coach Eric Elwood is hopeful that his side can bounce back from yet another tight defeat in the Rabo Direct Pro 12 when they take on Glasgow Warriors on Saturday.

The province suffered yet another agonizingly close loss in Cardiff last Friday, going down by 22 points to 15 and the issues that have plagued them all season, conceding penalties and not taking scoring chances, were again to blame in Wales.

“It’s becoming a familiar story and it’s like the theme of this year,” Elwood admitted on Monday evening. “We are disappointed and we weren’t at our very best. We did create enough of opportunities – four or five opportunities – and just the final pass and a little bit of accuracy in our execution we could have won the game.”

Discipline, again, was an issue for the westerners. They conceded five penalties in kickable positions and the Blues’ Ben Blair gratefully accepted the scoring opportunities Connacht offered him.

Elwood was disappointed by the concession of so many penalties as they gave Cardiff a platform to build their victory on.

“Again we were disappointed with our discipline. They got five kicks at goal and he got the five of them. Again we outscored a team by two tries to one and we lost the game because of our discipline and because we didn’t take our chances. So it’s very difficult from that point of view as it’s another missed opportunity for sure,” he said.

Elwood and his staff have a lot of hard work lined up for the team in training this week, as they bid to eradicate the errors that have blighted some terrific performances this season.

“We need to have a bit more bite in our training and need to be tougher on ourselves and more accurate when we are running our plays and practicing our drills. It’s very important to recognize that what you do in training has a huge bearing on how you play. It’s about training hard, working hard and certainly being good at the basic skills of catching and passing. We tried to replicate that today.”

The breakdown will be key in determining the outcome of Friday’s clash with Glasgow and it is an area they will be spending a lot of time on in heavier training sessions tomorrow and later in the week.

Connacht picked up a couple of knocks in the defeat to Cardiff on Friday night, with Ray Ofisa a doubt for Friday’s game against Glasgow Warriors in the Sportsground. He suffered a medial ligament injury and a chipped elbow on last Friday night.

There was some positive news on the injury front with Elwood hopeful that Eoin Griffin and Frank Murphy would be able to return to the squad for Friday’s home clash. “They haven’t had a lot of training underneath their belts as regards rugby. It might be a bit too soon for Frank but hopefully Eoin Griffin will be back,” he added.

Elwood and his men are hurting after that defeat and they are determined to take their pain out on Glasgow this weekend, he warned. “We really have got to make Glasgow pay for the disappointment of last week. The key for us is to get that win at home to give ourselves a chance against Edinburgh the following week. Two home games, two games we targeted. It’s up to us to front up on Friday and get the four points we are looking for.”