Connacht 'need to win' but won't sacrifice their principles

Connacht senior coach Pete Wilkins doesn't believe the province have to sacrifice their open style of rugby in a bid to end their losing run.

After a stretch of four defeats in row in all competitions, Connacht have fallen to 10th in the United Rugby Championship table.

And they are crucially nine points behind the next best-placed Irish team (Munster), leaving their hopes of qualifying for the Heineken Champions Cup next season quite slim.

The western province return from their bye-week with a tough looking trip to Llanelli to face the Scarlets, where they haven't won in 18 years, while they also let a 20-point half time lead slip at Parc Y Scarlets last season, eventually losing 41-26.

They had gained huge praise for their all-action style of play earlier this season, which led to them securing a place in the last 16 of the Champions Cup.

But after four defeats in a row, pressure is starting to mount on Wilkins and head coach Andy Friend to turn attractive rugby into winning rugby.

Wilkins believes that they can turn the corner without betraying their 'Fast, Relentless, Adaptable' principles.

"I think for us there isn't the need to sacrifice anything we've been aiming for previously. The reason for that is because as much as we want to play with ambition and entertain the fans and have an expansive brand, the elements that go into it are things that will set us up to win games.

"It's not aesthetics for the sake of it. There's a consistency of message and that's important for the players to know we aren't compromising anything we wanted to do initially. It is still the best path.

"It's about doing what we wanted to do all along but doing it better.

"We've all been around sport long enough to know sometimes you can't believe a win