One of the big question marks for Connacht following Robbie Henshaw’s defection to Leinster in 2016 was how would the western province replace him?
Henshaw was one of the key figures in Connacht’s march to the 2016 PRO12 title and he was forming a very formidable partnership with Bundee Aki in Pat Lam’s midfield.
But then Henshaw went to Leinster, Lam announced that he would be leaving the province for Bristol a few months later and their backline injuries quickly started to pile up. Tom Farrell came in as short term cover at outside centre but soon proved his worth and signed two contract extensions within the one year as Connacht looked to lock him down as Aki’s long term partner in midfield.
Their faith paid immediate dividends as Farrell claimed the Connacht Fans player of the season with six tries in 21 games. He also led the PRO14 last season in carries (217), offloads (43) and finished in fourth place for defenders beaten (55).
Carrying, offloading and beating defenders are also a big part of Bundee Aki’s game and the two work incredibly well together in both attack and defence.
Aki was sensational in the 33-20 win over the Scarlets last weekend and the numbers certainly added some weight to his performance.
- 47 metres gained off 17 carries
- 8 defenders beaten
- 2 line breaks
- 2 offloads
- 2 tackles
- 1 try assist
The native New Zealander was brilliant in his first start of the season and his understanding with Farrell continues to improve with time.
Both Aki and Farrell combined brilliantly on Connacht’s first try of the game and in the clip above you can see Farrell do an excellent job of adjusting his line to get into a position where he can receive the ball from Aki after navigating his way through several Scarlets players.
The Ireland centre does a magnificent job at getting the pass off to Farrell who glides under the posts for a well earned try.
Farrell may have led the league last season in carries and offloads but his support lines are critical for Connacht, especially considering how direct Aki can be at times.
Later in the half we can see a perfect example of both Farrell’s strength as a support runner but also his ability to extend the play with a nice offload to Robin Copeland after a great break up the middle.
Connacht recycled the ball and ended up going wide to Cian Kelleher and it’s a facet of their attack that Leinster have been preparing heavily for this week ahead of their trip to Galway on Saturday.
“They play a high tempo game where they try and stretch you in attack and defence,” said Leinster scrum coach John Fogarty earlier this week.
“A lot of ball in play and they’ll be very confrontational. Bundee has played unbelievably well these last two games. He came off the bench against Edinburgh and against Scarlets he played a big part. We’re expecting a very physical game that is going to massively test us in attack and defence.
“They play a lot of side to side and when they stretch you, all the balls back inside, you saw Tom Farrell’s score at the weekend, those balls back inside are big for them.
“For us this week we’re going to work very hard on getting set defensively from the set piece and in phase defence we’re up off the ground and plugging holes the whole time.”
Inside balls are definitely a tactic that Connacht look to use but it does not always come off set piece or a result of being stretched in defence.
In the clip below Kieran Marmion picks up the ball from the ruck after a botched first phase attack and gives a reverse pass to fly-half Jack Carty who attracts the first defender out of the line before hitting full-back Tiernan O’Halloran on the inside.
The play is ultimately called back by referee Marius Mitrea for an obstruction by Connacht tighthead prop Finlay Bealham but nevertheless it’s a good example of how creative Connacht are getting under new head coach Andy Friend.
Connacht ran the ball 163 times against the Scarlets and Farrell, Aki and O’Halloran accounted for 49 of those runs, or 30%.
They attacked wide through Matt Healy and Cian Kelleher, they ran great support lines, they attacked around the ruck through forward runners and backs like Farrell coming into the play and they attack the ball at pace.
Farrell has been great in attack but his defence will be an area he will look to improve this week after making five tackles and missing two against the Scarlets.
Defence is one of the staples of Aki’s game, and was very clear to see during the summer tour of Australia and in Galway last weekend, but his communication skills also make others around him better.
The final clip below shows Aki and Farrell working at their absolute best together. The Scarlets go wide from the scrum and Aki sprints across while checking the run of Rhys Patchell.
When Patchell moves the ball on to Hadleigh Parkes he moves on to the Wales centre while Farrell picks up the next runner (Paul Asquith) and takes him down with a textbook tackle before finding his way back to his feet and turning the ball over.
A lot of Connacht’s best play will invariably run through Aki and Farrell.
Whether it’s carrying, running support lines, offloading or just working well defensively together, the two were immense for Connacht against the Scarlets and will have another tough challenge this weekend against Leinster with the visit of internationals Garry Ringrose and Joe Tomane.
Robbie Henshaw won’t be in Galway this weekend as he is withheld from yet another trip back to his former home. Connacht would certainly be a better side with Henshaw still in their ranks but it looks like they are coping just fine with Aki and Farrell.
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