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Rugby

Kieran Keane pleased with "confidence building" rout in Europe

Connacht secured a home quarter-final in the Challenge Cup after a 50-14 win over Oyonnax at the ...



Kieran Keane pleased with "...
Rugby

Kieran Keane pleased with "confidence building" rout in Europe

Connacht secured a home quarter-final in the Challenge Cup after a 50-14 win over Oyonnax at the Sportsground, a win that head coach Kieran Keane believes will be a confidence boost for his side.

Speaking Off The Ball's Oisin Langan after the match, the New Zealander was happy with his side's performance, despite a slight dip in form during the second half.

"I think everybody is quite pleased with themselves. We wanted to do a job today and got off the a flier, which was a big focus earlier in the week, and it was nice for everybody. That builds some confidence, to get eight tries, it was really good. It probably wasn't our best second half but you can only play as good as the opposition let you".

While Connacht's results this year have been a mixed bag, having won five of their six Challenge Cup games but losing nine of their 13 Guinness Pro14 contests, Keane couldn't place exactly what the cause of their consistency in Europe comes down to.

"I'm not sure it's the competition or what it is. Could just be the timing of different things. We tend to respond pretty well once we've had our tail put between our legs. We've had a couple of good serious sessions, and a little bit of honesty about our reviews and so on, and the boys have responded each time so as a coach I'm pretty pleased with that".

While Connacht have struggled in the domestic competition this season, Keane is confident in his approach and believes that things are going in the right direction, it just takes time for a new coach to implement new ideas for the way he wants his side to play.

"I think it's all related to confidence and what they're doing. It takes a certain amount of discipline to play the type of game that we aspire to play. We haven't been that good at it at certain times, but other times we've been quite brilliant, so it's trying to get that consistency is where I'm probably steering things".

With the province's poor form in Pro14, the possibility of the Connacht qualifying for next season's Champion's Cup is potentially more likely to come via winning the European competition, an idea that's already crossed the mind of the man in charge.

"We'd love to win this competition. It's there, and we're in a good spot, so let's go for it".

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