Connacht’s Kaolin Blade against the Lions
Connacht’s Caolin Blade scored a hat-trick as the Irish team edged past the Lions in their high-scoring United Rugby Championship (URC) fixture at The Sportsground in Galway on Saturday night.
SUMMARY | URC – Connacht v Lions
home team won 43-24 after leading 29-17 at halftime.
Connacht scored two minutes into the clash with URC, with Diarmuid Kilgallen pushing through the Lions defence.
The tourists got on the board with a Jordan Hendrikse penalty, but Jack Carty extended their lead with a penalty of his own.
Soon after, the Lions worked the ball from a lineout with Asenathi Ntlabakanye going under the posts to score the visitors’ first try when Hendrik converted.
Shane Delahunt responded with a try of his own with Carty converting and the hosts continued to pressure the Lions as Caolin Blade came over the line.
Carty became Connacht’s all-time leading points scorer with that converted try.
However, a penalty lead resulted in Henco van Wyk scoring for the Lions as Delahunt received a yellow card.
Despite having a player on the bench, Tiernan O’Halloran scored as Connacht headed into half-time with a comfortable 12-point lead.
After the break, Connacht quickly crossed the cal as Blade scored his brace into the middle of the posts, with Carty scoring the conversion.
Connacht then scored their sixth try, with Blade completing his hat-trick.
The Lions came back and scored the ninth try of the game when Marius Louw caught the hosts’ defense by surprise, but it was too late as Connacht delighted the crowd with a comprehensive victory.
Goalscorers:
Connacht 43 (29)
Attempts: Diarmuid Kilgallen, Shane Delahunt, Caolin Blade (3), Tiernan O’Halloran
Conversions: Jack Carty (5)
Penalties: Carty
Sharks 24 (17)
Tries: Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Henco van Wyk, Marius Louw
Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (2), Ntlabakanye
Penalties: Hendrikse
