Montpellier v Connacht: Five takeaways as French club chase third title after Springboks-esque ‘demolition’ job of Irish province
Montpellier players celebrate and an inset of Connacht's Bundee Aki.
Following Montpellier’s 45-22 demolition of Connacht in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals, here are our five takeaways from the knockout match at the Septeo Stadium.
Top line
Montpellier maulled, brawled and battered their way past a stubborn Connacht outfit to book their place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals, where they will face one of the Dragons or Zebre.
The French club headed into the quarter-finals as the top-ranked team in the EPCR’s second division tournament and went about strengthening their favourites tag with a commanding showing at the Septeo Stadium.
Connacht struck first through the boot of Sam Gilbert, but it was the Montpellier maul that took over from there, eking out a penalty try before Christopher Tolofua dived over to open up a 14-3 lead with two of the visitors’ players in the sin bin.
Back to 15 men, Stuart Lancaster’s men responded through Dylan Tierney-Martin, who had returned from his yellow card along with Shamus Hurley-Langton, but tries from Mohamed Haouas and Domingo Miotti, once Connacht were reduced to 14 men again, meant that Montpellier held a commanding 24-8 advantage at half-time.
Sean Naughton grabbed a five-pointer earlier in the second half as Connacht threatened a comeback but it was only a speedbump on the hosts’ route to victory as Auguste Cadot and Ali Price scored either side of Lyam Akrab’s yellow card to make it a 25-point game.
Jack Aungier grabbed a consolation score with five minutes to play but Montpellier had the final say of the game courtesy of a Valentin Welsch try.
Montpellier maul master-class
It’s no secret that Montpellier’s maul is a real weapon. In the Top 14 this season, they have scored 14 tries from the drive, a tally only Pau better and by just one, whilst no club has more maul metres than MHR.
A detailed coach like Stuart Lancaster would have been well aware of the threat it would have posed to his side, but it’s one thing to identify that threat and something else entirely to try and stop it, even with a maul defensive expert like Cian Prendergast in their ranks.
It’s no understatement to say that Montpellier’s mauling paved the way to victory, with two early shoves seeing Connacht reduced to 13 men and going 7-3 down after just six minutes. Tolofua made it 14-3 at the back of another maul before the Irish province were restored to 15 men.
Domestic abuser Haouas dotted down for the third try sourced from the driving maul to give Montpellier a 24-8 buffer heading into the final 10 minutes of the half, before Miotti scored the fourth five-pointer for his side – and the first not sourced from the maul.
It was the kind of forward demolition Ireland endured at scrum time during the November defeat to the Springboks, as Connacht quite simply had no answers to what was unfolding, which resulted in penalties and yellow cards.
The threat was evident, surely identified but was it given the respect it deserved? On today’s evidence, probably not.
Discipline costs Connacht
Before the clamours of comments come in, stating that teams shouldn’t be further punished with cards ‘just for being dominated’, it was plainly obvious that Connacht resorted to stopping Montpellier’s maul illegally and when you are defending so close to your own line, it leaves the referee with no other option. On both occasions in the first half, referee Christophe Ridley was spot on to issue the card for cynical acts.
It’s not illegal to be dominated or go backwards in scrums and mauls but it is against the laws of the game to collapse or stop it illegally and that’s where Connacht were punished.
It cost them 14 points in the opening quarter of the game, and whilst they hit back almost immediately when restored to 15 men, Shayne Bolton’s daft tackle on Jon Echegaray after the Montpellier winger had kicked the ball stopped Connacht’s momentum dead in its tracks.
Again, Montpellier capitalised, racking up 12 points during the sin-binning period with the French outfit ultimately scoring all 26 of their first-half points when they had at least a one-man advantage.
The penalty count today was largely even for the majority of the game, but it was the manner in which and where the Irish side conceded their penalties that mattered and cost them dearly. With their Challenge Cup journey now done and dusted, lessons from today need to be learnt if they are to go deep into the United Rugby Championship.
Bundee Aki headlines Connacht positives
Since returning from his suspension for ref-bashing, Bundee Aki has been in barnstorming form for Ireland and Connacht and that was evident again today.
While the powerhouse centre is always a handful carrying directly to the line, his subtleties came to the fore in the quarter-final with his pull-back passes regularly unlocking the French defence. The 36-year-old only made 22 from his seven carries but much of that former tally was in contact, dragging more than one defender with him. He also weighed with some good shots on defence.
The result won’t please Lancaster but the coach will be happy with the overall effort of his charges who fought valiantly throughout despite the scoreboard being beyond their reach. Chay Mullins’ brilliant defence in the first half is a moment that he will think back on fondly as the winger was careful not to commit to a tackle early and was quickest to the ball five metres from his own tryline when it looked easier for Montpellier to score than not.
The phase attack ticked along nicely too as Connacht regularly opened Montpellier up nicely with discipline or handling errors, letting the hosts of the hook.
With a trip to Cape Town and Johannesburg, where they will face the Stormers and Lions respectively, followed by an inter-pro against Munster and a trip to Edinburgh, Connacht are in a decent position to sneak into the final eight of the URC. However, their maul defence and overall discipline will be crucial to their bid, particularly when they go up against the Stormers next weekend.
Montpellier’s bid for a third Challenge Cup title
Winners under Jake White in 2016 and Philippe Saint-André five years later, Montpellier set their sights on the Challenge Cup trophy yet again as they will be favourites heading into the semi-final against either the Dragons or Zebre.
Joan Caudullo and Bernard Laporte looked to have pieced together a mighty squad with depth to compete on two fronts, highlighted by their progression into the final four of this tournament after finishing the pool stages as the top-ranked team whilst remaining in the fight for a barrage place in the Top 14 – sitting in fifth position.
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On paper, today’s teamsheet was solid, but it was by no means the strongest outfit that the French club could field with several frontline stars rested. Frankly, this kind of squad depth is a luxury that only French clubs can afford and is the reason why so many Top 14 teams have progressed as far as they have in the EPCR tournaments.
Still, credit where it is due, Montpellier were dominant today and are fully deserving of their place in the last four and probably the final.