Connacht 18 Cardiff 7
A dominant display from champions Connacht ensured a much-needed and valuable victory over Cardiff at the Galway Sportsground to kick start this new block of Pro 12 fixtures.
With pressure mounting on Connacht to find last season’s championship winning form, they did more than enough in both attack and defence to grab a third league win and deny seventh place Cardiff a bonus point. Had they not gifted the visitors a first-half try, their victory would have been more comfortable.
Captain John Muldoon once again led from the front with a man of the match performance, and was prominent in Connacht’s opening try in the 16th minute after a dominant opening quarter that had failed to yield any reward.
However Jake Heenan initiated a counter-attack, and following good support play from Muldoon and Eoin McKeon, left wing Stacey Ili kicked ahead, and it was Muldoon’s chase that forced fullback Dan Fish to concede a five metre scrum.
The pack then forced Cardiff on the back foot and with Muldoon in control over the line, scrumhalf John Cooney touched down and converted for a 7-0 lead.
It was no more than the home side deserved, but infuriatingly, they gifted Cardiff a try from the restart when Carty’s attempted long pass out of defence was easily read by left wing Tom James who had the simplest of finishes to dot down under the posts. Outhalf Steven Shingler converted to level the scores, and it provided the visitors with the boost they needed.
Within minutes they were attacking the Connacht line again - the South Pacific duo of Wilis Haloholo and centre partner Rey Lee-Lo continuing to stretch the Connacht defence. They came within inches of scoring a second, and Conacht were left off the hook when Shingler missed a penalty from a subsequent scrum.
Despite the best efforts of Muldoon who twice broke through the cover, mistackles continued to haunt the home side, and they were not helped by the loss of centre Craig Ronaldson after 37 minutes. However late replacement Tiernan O'Halloaran made an immediate impact, and by the end of the half Connacht were attacking the Cardiff line, and were rewarded with a 39th minute scrum penalty which Cooney nailed to edge Pat Lams's sisde ahead 10-7 at the interval.
Connacht maintained the momentum after the restart, wisely kicking behind the rushed defence, and as the forwards starting making the hard yards, Cooney added three points when the visitors were penalised for obstruction after 49 minutes.
The tables were turned on Cardiff in defence, and a superb tackle from Muldoon forced the turnover from Matthew Morgan, and Niyi Adeolokun set up the scoring platform. With the ball moved quickly wide, Bundee Aki finished with a try on 56 minutes. Although Carty missed the conversion, Connacht were in the driving seat with an 18-7 lead.
Cardiff, helped by the introduction of Wales international Alex Cuthbuert, came close to scoring through replacement Morgan, but the twin efforts of Adeolokun and Aki repelled the touchdown in the right corner. And although the visitors enjoyed territorial dominance thereafter, a steal from Heenan at the line-out and another at the breakdown sealed a deserved and much-needed win for the champions.
Connacht: C Kelleher, N Adeolokun, B Aki, C Ronaldson, S Ili, J Carty, J Cooney, D Buckley, T McCartney, C Carey, Q Roux, J Cannon, E McKeon, J Heenan, J Muldoon (cpt).
Replacements, T O’Halloran for Ronaldson (27m), D Heffernan for McCartney, C Blade for Cooney (54m), N Fox-Matamua for McKeon (61m), R Loughney for Buckley and Stevenson for Roux (both 64m), JP Cooney for Carey and M Boschoff for Carty (66m).
Cardiff: D Fish; B Scully, R Lee-Lo, W Halaholo, T James; S Shingler, T Williams; R Gill, K Dacey, S Andrews, G Earle, J Hoeata, J Turnbull, E Jenkins (capt), J Navidi.
Replacements: M Morgan.for Fish (37m), M Cook for Hoeata (52), A Cuthbert for James (68), B Thyer for Gill and F Taufa’ao for Andrews ( 70m).
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU).
