Connacht left kicking themselves

Connacht director of coaching Eric Elwood blasted his kickers after his side succumbed to their eighth successive defeat in the Pro12 - this time at the hands of Irish rivals Leinster.

While opposing flyhalf Isa Nacewa slotted away five penalties from five in the New Year's Day clash, Matthew Jarvis missed three kicks from four as Connacht lost 15-13 despite scoring two tries from Tiernan O'Halloran and Ethienne Reynecke.

Replacement flyhalf Miah Nikora could not fare any better, missing the decisive conversion from Reynecke and coming up short with a drop-goal in the dying minutes.

Elwood, whose side face Aironi on Saturday, couldn't hide his frustration but called on his troops to respond against the Italians and end their dismal run.

"We couldn't buy a kick. The kickers don't need me to tell them," said Elwood.

"We've had a chat, they know that. If one of those kicks goes over, it wins you a very important game and gives us the lift we were looking for. Obviously it's another disappointed dressing-room. Leinster are the European champions and we outscored them two tries to nil," he pointed out.

Elwood was left frustrated after watching his team do all of the hard work only to lack the finishing touch required to end their losing streak.

He said: "It's a good performance, a great effort, good crowd participation and a great night but we've nothing to show for it. It's disappointing.

"We knew we needed to step up from last week and we did that. If we can take this on next week, that's the consistency we'll be looking for against Aironi. If we can stay at this level of performance, intensity and even maybe a step further, who knows? But we can't drop our levels," added Elwood.