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(Connacht win 50-49 on aggregate)
Connacht nailed down a quarter-final spot in the PARKER PEN CHALLENGE CUP after this heart-stopping thriller at Corinthian Park which went right down to the wire.
Connacht, trailing 42-27 and seemingly dead and buried after the first leg, produced a superb disciplined performance which wore down the French but the outcome was in doubt right down to the seventh minute of injury-time.
At that stage Narbonne, under the cosh deep inside their own 22 for all of stoppage time, broke and were awarded a penalty on the right-wing inside the ten metre line. But Cedric Rosalen never got enough distance in his kick and Connacht deservedly survived to book a quarter-final place against Pontypridd in January.
It would have been massive injustice had Narbonne stolen it in the end as Connacht, displaying patience and superb ball retention, controlled proceedings for most of the match as they set about chomping away at the deficit. Connacht led 14-0 at the break thanks to two excellent tries which left the aggregate score delicately posed at 41-42 in Narbonne¹s favour at half-time.
Narbonne fly-half Jerome Gendre was off target with penalty attempts after eleven and nineteen minutes as Connacht were forced to saturate some early pressure from the French. Connacht got the breakthrough after 22 minutes when Eoin Reddan and Eric Elwood combined to send Darren Yapp crashing over for the first try. Elwood added the points and then did likewise five minutes later after a superb flowing move through several hands which finished with hooker Marnus Uijs flying through to bring them within a point of the French.
Narbonne responded by replacing out-half Gendre with Cedric Rosalen but they never looked like scoring a try in that opening half. Elwood edged Connacht in front on aggregate eight minutes after the restart with a penalty from just inside halfway and he further extended the lead after 57 minutes with a kick from the ten metre line.
That put Connacht 20-0 in front on the afternoon and 47-42 ahead on aggregate going into the final quarter. But then disaster struck fifteen minutes from the end of normal time when Narbonne burst through for a try from replacement Xavier Guillemet which levelled the tie at 47-47 before Rosalen added the points from the left to put Narbonne in front.
However, Connacht kept their composure and driving pressure yielding another penalty, this time from 30 metres on the left and on a day of flawless kicking from the former Irish out-half, Elwood duly steered the ball between the posts to put Connacht into a lead they just refused to surrender during a hectic and thrilling closing few minutes.
HT: 14-0 Attendance:
Connacht: Tries - D Yapp, M Uijs; Cons - Elwood 2; Pens - E Elwood 3
RC Narbonne: Try - G Belzons; Con - C Rosalen
