Jack Carty was off the pitch at the time so he would not have minded too much that John Muldoon stepped up for a conversion.
The Connacht outhalf was called ashore after 63 minutes, with his side 33-3 ahead, but captain Muldoon stayed out until the end. Such was the ease at Connacht’s victory that the veteran was afforded a simple conversion that the home crowd absolutely loved.
“I didn’t know he was going to do that at all,” Carty admitted. “I think a few of the lads were looking to pop the ball to him at the try-line a few times, similar to the Racing game last week, but I don’t think he was anywhere in sight. Yeah, it was a good send-off for him.”
With Muldoon off enjoying his retirement party, Carty joined Connacht head coach Kieran Keane for the post-match musings. Out of Connacht’s seven tries scored on the day, Keane enjoyed Kieran Marmion’s second try most of all. He turned to his No.10 and declared:
“What I really loved was your chip kick mate.
“We’ve practiced it all bloody season! It was a beauty. You timed it to perfection. You stood still and it just went ‘bunk’. Brilliant.”
Carty modestly gave credit to fullback Tiernan O’Halloran for making the play but that score would not have happened without the ‘bunk’ being spot on.
Connacht’s players, coaches and supporters will look back on 2017/18 as one with some great victories but one that was ultimately disappointing. The province defeated Munster, Ulster and Leinster in Galway yet still fell short in PRO14 and Challenge Cup campaigns.
Keane has recruited a couple of promising Australian players for next season and says three more signings will be announced soon. Still, replacing such an inspirational figure as Muldoon will take some doing.
Carty told a nice story, after the match, that shows how much of a legend ‘Mul’ was and how much his words resonated with young players.
“I remember my first [Connacht] match was when I was about 17. It was an ‘A’ game. I was still in school or just out of school. I was playing with Mul, there was Keith Matthews outside me, Conor O’Loughlin, fellas who had racked up a lot of experiences for Connacht. We beat Leinster on the day.
“I said it to Mul during the week, I had never said it to him, coming off the pitch he came over and put his arm around me. I had never met him before and he was just like, ‘Keep hammering away with all of your extras, keep the head down‘.
“It has been an absolute honour to play with him as a teammate but more importantly to get to know him as a really good mate. That is the way everyone feels about him. What he has done for this club has been phenomenal. We were delighted to send him off in style today.”
Muldoon will be watching on from Bristol, where he will be coaching, next season and will hope that his beloved province can show that the 47-10 win over Leinster was not the end, but the beginning.
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