Connacht’s success in the 22

Connacht grounded out a tough win vs the Cheetahs at the weekend.

The game was full of attacking rugby with both sides making 7 clean breaks a piece. 

Something that we picked up on was Connacht’s conversion rate in the opposition 22. The conversion rate being ability to score once they get inside the opposition 22.

This article focuses on the match against the Cheetahs and compares it to the rest of the Connacht home games PRO14.

Versus the Cheetahs
Connacht had a 46% conversion rate in the Cheetahs 22. A total of 11 visits converting 5, scoring 3 tries and 2 penalties. 

The Cheetahs only managed a 37% success rate, scoring 3 tries on 8 visits.

Connacht’s Attack Season Average at home
Connacht have a total of 67 visits to the opposition 22 and they scored on 35 of those opportunities, scoring 24 tries and 11 penalties. A success rate of 52%.

Connacht are more lethal in the first half with a conversion rate of 67% compared to scoring on only 41% of visits to the 22 in the second half.

Connacht’s Defence
Opposition teams have only managed a success rate of 50% when they make it into the Connacht 22 in from 53 attempts, scoring 19 tries, 7 penalties and 1 drop goal.  

The stats show how good the Connacht defence were against one of the most potent attacking teams in the PRO14 while, as Andy Friend mentioned in his post match comments, there is room for improvement, with the attack falling slightly below average.