Miah Nikora drop kicked Connacht into the final four of the Amlin Challenge Cup with a 78th minute kick to secure a famous win over Bourgoin.

Miah Nikora drop kicked Connacht into the final four of the Amlin Challenge Cup with a 78th minute kick to secure a famous win over Bourgoin.

The Irish province took full advantage of Benjamin Boyet's sin binning to reverse a 20-14 deficit with 15 minutes to play.
NIkora did what Brock James failed to do yesterday, as he slotted the late winner for his team.

It means a seventh straight win in this competition for Micheal Bradley's side, who now are just 80 minutes away form their first Amlin Challenge Cup final, after twice falling at the semi-final stage in the past.

Conditions in Galway were perfect and the players delivered another nail-biting European occasion - hot on the heels of the thriller in Dublin. Again, it was the Magners League side who came away with the victory, but it could have been a very different story as the French side threatened to spoil the party.

They had fought their way back from a half time deficit of 14-10 to lead by 20 points to 14 before Boyet was sent to the sin binning for killing the ball.

It meant the Irish side were able to halve the difference and then hammer home their numerical superiority with a second penalty.

Spurred on by vociferous home support, they pressed ahead. But Nikora needed two bites at the cheery to clinch victory. His effort of the 77th minute was struck sweetly enough but it did not have the accuracy to affect the score.

The same can't be said for his final effort and his side will now look to the semi-final in the first week of May.

Final Score Connacht Rugby (14) 23 Bourgoin (10) 20

Scorers

Connacht
Try - J Muldoon, M Swift;
Conversion - I Keatley (2)
Penalty - I Keatley, M Nikora
Drop Goal - M Nikora

Bourgoin
Scorers: Try - J Senio, T Kopelani;
Conversion - B Boyet (2)
Penalty - B Boyet (2)
Discipline: Yellow Card - B Boyet (64)

Referee: Andrew Small (England)

Teams

Connacht Rugby: G Duffy, T Nathan, N Ta'auso (C O'Loughlin 78), K Mathews, F Carr (A Wynne 67), I Keatley (M Nikora 62), F Murphy, B Wilkinson, S Cronin (A Flavin 73), J Hagan (R Morris 65), M Swift, M McCarthy (B Upton 65), J Muldoon [capt], J O'Connor, G Naoupu

Replacements used: A Wynne, M Nikora, A Flavin, R Morris, C O'Loughlin, B Upton

Bourgoin: M Moinot, R Coetzee, W van Zyl (M Viazzo 41), A Dumoulin
(S Laloo 41), J Coux, B Boyet, J Senio, O Milloud (P Cardinali 72), T Kopelani (J Genevois 41), A Tchougong (V Pelo 73), B Williams, C Basson, J Frier [capt], T Cowley, C Levast (B Leonte 41)