Cardiff 14
Connacht 8
Connacht ended their winning streak against Cardiff in their second BKT URC fixture in Wales - their first defeat in Arms Park since 2021
Despite not playing to their potential, Connacht pounded the line at the death in search of a losing bonus point. They came close when Matt Devine’s effort was deemed short, but from the resulting scrum and 12 phases of play, eventually replacement David O’Connor crashed over in the corner to earn a losing bonus point.
Head coach Stuart Lancaster will applaud their fortitude at the end, but Connacht simply did not play well enough, giving away too many penalties, while failing to look after the ball. And despite having 56 per cent of possession and territory, Connacht did not have wherewithal to break down an excellent Cardiff defence in a low-scoring battle with both sides sitting in mid table.
Connacht were first off the mark, capitalising on an early penalty where Cardiff strayed offside, and centre Cathal Forde kicked the opening points for a 0-3 lead.
However, it was short-lived as the home side took control. Camped on the Connacht line, they made little headway through the pack, but a clever kick-pass from outhalf Callum Sheedy, similar to one he produced against Munster, found 19-years-Tom Bowen who had an easy run-in to score - Sheedy adding the conversion to put the home side into a 7-3 lead.
Connacht were given a let off when Cardiff, in control, conceded a penalty for blocking, relieving relieving the pressure, but the home side was soon back in possession as Lancaster’s men continued to rack up penalty. Although Cardiff could easily have scored another, but for poor handling, it was all one-way traffic with the home side fully in control, thanks in the main to their dominant pack.
Penalties continued to mount for Connacht, an eight conceded by the 30th minute, allowing the home side to continue to control proceedings. They should have scored from a resultant tap and go minutes later, but Sean Jansen and Joe Joyce did well to hold them up.
Connacht created their best scoring opportunity just before the break when Carty kicked the ball in behind the cover for Chay Mullins to gather before offloading to Ben Murphy, but without support, he conceded a penalty for holding - their ninth of the half - and with it yet another opportunity went begging as the home side, dominated territory, possession, and clean breaks for a 7-3 half-time lead. But for Connacht’s strong defence, the score could well been bigger.
Connacht created an opportunity with penalty to touch - a rare incursion into the 22 and they needed to make it count, but lost the line-out, but mistakes continued to hand the home side the ball
Connacht, with a number of changes, took greater control in the second half, but mistakes continued, and losing two line-outs in succession did not help their cause. They came to scoring with an opportunity, but brilliant defence from as Cardiff kept them out.
The game meandered in the second half with the game played between the 22s with both defences on top, but Connacht spurned a perfect opportunity to score after a well-worked backline move broke down. Bye the 70th minute Connacht had created their best scoring move. From a penalty touch Connacht opted to maul before Matt Devine went blind and fed Finn Treacy. Having scored five tries last season with three men to beat, he was stymied from touching down when Callum Sheedy did brilliant to knock the ball out of his hand in the dive to score. Minutes later another opportunity to score was spurned when Jansen lost the ball five metres from the line.
Connacht, now taking the game to Cardiff, created another scoring chance from a maul when Devine produced a perfect up and under which was fielded by the Cardiff player. Good work from Bolton forced a knock-on, but from an attacking scrum, Connacht lacked the precision to score.
With minutes remaining, Lancaster’s side still had possession and looked the more likely to score. It looked all over when Bowen intercepted well inside his own half, but eventually Devine delivered the bonus point.
Cardiff Rugby: C Winnett; J Beetham, H Millard, S Emanuel, T Bowen; C Sheedy, J Mulder; D Southworth, L Belcher (C ), K Assiratti, J McNally, G Nott for T Williams (32 ), B Donnell, D Thomas, A Lawrence. Replacements, D Hughes for Belcher (59 ), R Barratt for Southworth (51 ), J Sebastian for Assiratti (51 ), T Basham for Thomas (64 ), A Davies for Mulder (65 ), I Lloyd for Sheedy(69 ), J Mulder for Emanuel (73 ), O Lewis for Millard (77 ).
Connacht: S Naughton; C Mullins, D Hawkshaw, C Forde, S Bolton; J Carty, B Murphy; D Buckley, D Heffernan, J Aungier, D Murray, J Joyce, C Prendergast (C ), S O'Brien, S Jansen. Replacements: J Duggan for Buckley (34 ), F Treacy for Bolton (45-52 ),S Hurley-Langton for O’Brien and H Gavin for Hawkshaw, (both 54 ), S Illo for Aungier and D O'Connor for Joyce (both 53 ), E de Butler for Heffernan (55 ), M Devine for Murphy (68 ), F Treacy for Carty (61 ).
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR )
