Elwood pleased with confidence boost ahead of Harlequins challenge
Connacht head coach Eric Elwood was delighted to see his charges return to winning ways against the Dragons in the RaboDirect PRO12 ahead of their Heineken Cup Pool 3 meeting with Harlequins next weekend.
Dan Parks kicked 15 points in the Sportsground on Saturday evening as the western province dismissed the Welsh outfit with a convincing 30-11 win.
An early penalty try was followed by five pointers from George Naoupu and Dannie Poolman.
The only Dragons try of the night came in the dying moments of the game when replacement scrum-half Jonathan Evans touched down for a consolation score.
The victory wasn’t enough to propel Connacht out of tenth place in the league table but after losing three on the spin prior to Saturday’s clash Elwood was thrilled with the attitude his players showed.
“I’m delighted that all the hard work the lads are doing paid off to get them the reward,” he said.
“We put ourselves in a really strong position in the first half. Thirty minutes gone, we dominated possession, played some great rugby and got those two tries.
“There was a swing and Dragons got a push at the end of that first half. But we went in in a positive frame of mind at half time.”
If there was a negative about the performance it was that in the final 35 minutes Connacht couldn’t muster one more try to seal the bonus point but Elwood insists the priority was winning at home.
“Yes, we’re a little bit disappointed not to get the bonus point.
“But at the end of the day, we got a good victory at home, it was a lovely evening for rugby and we had a great crowd of supporters.”
The victory came just in time as Connacht look to gear themselves up for a massive Heineken Cup collision with Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins.
Quins are one of just three teams that boast a 100% record heading into Round 5 of the Cup and they will be keen to keep that momentum going against Connacht in the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.
The English champions also kept their domestic form going with a 26-31 win over London Welsh on Sunday which keeps them two points clear at the top of the Premiership.
Having come close to beating O’Shea’s men in London last season Connacht won’t fear the challenge next weekend but Elwood is under no illusions about the calibre of opposition they will be facing.
“We’re back on the horse now and it gives us that momentum and confidence going over to Harlequins next week.
“We’re playing the English champions who, at the top of our group, are just getting better and better.
“We played some great rugby out here against Harlequins in October and lost 22-30. It’s a different proposition with them at home but we want to play our game.
“It’s going to be another challenge but we’re going there in a good frame of mind.”
