Ulster came to Galway to play, Connacht played to win

Breathless, brilliant, crazy stuff in Galway.

Connacht are running and gunning. They're back. Just about every one of us assumed that was it. Connacht had nothing left to give after all the drama, shredded nerves and stunning rugby of 2015/16. When they lost their first three games of the season, most wrote the champions off. They did not win a league for nothing though. Not when everyone told them they would not and could not. We should have learned our lesson. Connacht were happy to dish out a reminder. https://twitter.com/connachtrugby/status/784491281980456961 Ulster must have wondered what hit them as they were sucking half-time oranges. The men from the north trailed 22-8 at the break, with 12 Connacht points arriving in 90 crazy seconds of action. Outhalf Jack Carty converted his own, early try and rival 10 Paddy Jackson's penalty had the score at 7-3. Then, the fun started. 25 minutes in and all that chaos was crystallised into a score of pure, joyous magic. Play swung right to left with Aki and Craig Ronaldson flinging it on. Tiernan O'Halloran spotted Tommy Bowe rushing up and flipped the pass over his head. Kelleher pouched it and cruised over. Ultan Dillane claimed the restart, Jake Heenan's soft-hands were on display and Connacht sensed seconds. Dave Heffernan was the hard-charging hooker that punched a hole in the Ulster defence. Bundee Aki, Heenan and Niyi Adeolokun kept the move alive and substitute James Connolly swept up to score. Ulster did what they had to - got into the Connacht 22, gripped onto the ball and bashed away until they drew men in. An overlap was created and Craig Gilroy had a simple score for himself in the left-hand corner. There were other highlights in a half that ended 22-8 - superb poaches from Heenan and Carey, Aki forcing a turnover with a big hit on Louis Ludik and Adeolokun looking supreme under the high ball. With Connacht down to 14 men for the start of the second half, Ulster made hay. Talk in the Sportsground stands was that a win would be there for the taking if Connacht could keep it tight for the first 20 minutes. Six minutes after the restart and we were level at 22-22. Rory Best finished off some pack pressure and Tommy Bowe burst through off a line-out in a move Irish fans will be well used to but somehow fooled Heenan, Heffernan and Carty. The Ulster winger found Jared Payne in support for an all too simple try. Restored to 15 men and with rabid replacements adding momentum, Connacht tore back. They held onto the ball as long as possible before, confidence returning, they went wide. They were rewarded when Ulster got sucked in and Ronaldson found Kelleher unmarked on the left to dot down. Carty missed the conversion but added a penalty. Jackson made it a one-score game again - 30-25 - with a 40-metre penalty amid heckling about a watching Joe Schmidt. Ulster had their chances to win it and Jackson thought he had but play was called back for an obvious case of crossing. That was their last sniff. Connacht slammed the door and opened another. They are going to defend this trophy with everything they have.