John Muldoon rues losing out on glamour Thomond Park visit
Had they managed just one more penalty or a drop goal and prevented another Toulouse score at Stade Ernest Wallon two days ago, then it would have been Pat Lam’s side and not the four-time European champions progressing through to the knockout stages and that date in Limerick.
It would have made for a uniquely Irish fixture had it happened and, yet, the arrival of the French aristocrats to Thomond Park post-Six Nations is a jewel of an occasion in its own right and one the Connacht captain clearly finds difficult to call.
“Thomond Park, Heineken Cup... you know the history,” said Muldoon.
“[Toulouse] has huge history, as well, and if you give them an opportunity they’ll take it. I said it to the lads, we’d been watching their games and, in the last few weeks, I don’t know what’s gone on, but they’ve gone back to the club of old. They’re throwing the ball around and the flair is back. When they have that French flair and that capability with those big forwards up front and they start mixing it, anything is possible, but Thomond Park in a quarter-final; Jesus, you wouldn’t like to be going there. Anywhere else would be a bonus, but look, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in there and so will Munster.
“Munster will be fancying their chances. It’ll be a good game, but we’re just disappointed we’re not in there. That would have been some day: Thomond Park, Connacht v Munster…”
They know it was well within them to book their passage. The first half hurt them, in every way. With just 25% possession, they had to absorb the waves of attacks spearheaded by a phalanx of forward beef and, yet, it was the French who looked out on their feet in the final quarter and Connacht the ones pushing the agenda.
The province’s inability, or unwillingness, to manoeuvre into position for a drop goal attempt in that last chapter has come in for scrutiny, but Muldoon, like others in the camp, pointed out that Toulouse could still have claimed another score if required thereafter.
Either way, it should steel them for future battles.
Muldoon and Tom McCartney aside, this is a young Connacht side and the skipper made the observation that the likes of Craig Ronaldson and Matt Healy — both of them starters on Sunday — were AIL players three years ago.
Added to that inexperience in the ‘Pink City’ this time was the absence of a string of players through injury, none of them more important to the squad than Bundee Aki. Muldoon didn’t harp on about all that, but he felt compelled to mention. The question now for Connacht is what’s next?
“We’re disappointed with what could have been, but you have to remember that we’ve won four games in the Champions Cup on the back of qualifying for the competition through our own work last season.
“I said to the lads in the dressing room afterwards: ‘We’re out, it’s gone, and we’ve to concentrate now on the PRO12.’ We have to get some wins in the PRO12, because, when we look at the table, we know we need to get a few results to get us back up there.
“We need to make sure that we’re back in this competition next year. This time last year we went on a run of five [wins] out of five, with five bonus points and, ultimately, that probably won us the league. We need to start winning some games.”
