The 26-20 second half fightback made it three out of three for Toby Booth’s men this year and moved them up into third place in Conference A of the Guinness PRO14 and make them the top ranked Welsh region at present with 27 points.
All season Booth has been praising the youngster coming through the ranks at the Ospreys, but after the win in Galway he saluted the impact made by his international contingent in their final regional game before heading into camp with Wales to prepare for the Six Nations.
“We knew how difficult it was to go to Connacht and win, but we backed ourselves. Winning in Ireland is a good milestone for us and it was a massive team effort that was full of passion and commitment,” said Booth.
“We’ve championed the youngsters a lot, but on days like this against better opposition you want your renowned players to lead the way. I thought to a man they did that.
“Rhys Webb was absolutely outstanding and he managed his disappointment of not being picked by Wales. All he can do is play well and he scored two tries and picked up the man of the match award.
“He stood out for me, as did Owen Watkin and Dan Lydiate and the other international players. They really wanted to contribute to the performance.
“We viewed this game as a one-off Cup Final and sign off before the international window, so we are delighted with the outcome and particularly with the second half. We were a little bit untidy in the first half.
“It was encouraging that we found a way to overcome some of the things that were in our control and come up with solutions.”
Two-try Webb was delighted with his two tries in the second half and being part of a team performance that earned a bonus-point on the road.
“We knew if we stuck to what we were doing, then we would finally get the rewards. It’s awesome to get the win and I’m just looking forward to having the week off,” said Webb.
