Wilkins promises 'blunt' review for Connacht players and staff after Bordeaux defeat

Pete Wilkins says Connacht will conduct a "pretty blunt" review of their heavy defeat at the hands of Bordeaux-Begles in the Investec Champions Cup.

The Westerners shipped six tries in a 41-5 loss in their opening Pool 1 clash against the Top14 side.

It was evident from early on that Yannick Bru's men had brought their 'A’ game and Connacht simply couldn’t live with their power, pace and hunger.

"You never want the scoreline to get away from you, which it absolutely did," said Wilkins after the game, their third loss in a row in all competitions.

"You don’t want it to get to that stage, but I think it was more the type of performance that disappointed me more so than the scoreline, particularly in the first half.

"There were areas in the second half, but I just felt we were a step behind Bordeaux in the first half and you see that in how we attacked and how we defended, how we reacted to turnover ball, you could see it in our kick-chase.

"I just felt we were one step behind them and that gave them the opportunity to build belief.

"I think a French team coming to Galway in mid-winter, they can come here, even the good teams, wondering which way it’s going to go but when you give them that foothold they get that confidence and they are too good a team not to play on the back of that platform."

The hosts trailed 12-5 at the break but any chance they had evaporated with the concession of two tries inside the opening 14 minutes of the second half.

Connacht also lost Mack Hansen to injury midway through the first half, the Ireland winger pulling up sharply and limping off.

They face a daunting trip to Saracens next Saturday and Wilkins said they won’t pull any punches in their analysis of this demoralising loss.

"We’ve got to work