Connacht 35

Cardiff 20

By JOHN FALLON at Dexcom Stadium

GALWAY’S 1980 All-Ireland winning captain Joe Connolly has been hailed for his role in inspiring Connacht to reach the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup.

The Castlegar man was invited in to speak to the Connacht squad last week ahead of their knockout match against Cardiff at Dexcom Stadium on Saturday.

Cullie Tucker, who is leading the management team in the continued absence on sick leave of head coach Pete Wilkins, said Connolly delivered an outstanding presentation.

A week earlier Mayo football manager Kevin McStay addressed the players ahead of their clash against Munster at MacHale Park in Castlebar and Tucker said both had made a big impact.

“Just a few external speakers over the last couple of weeks, obviously, Kevin came down given the occasion and Joe is such an infectious, wonderful character that it’s lovely to get guys like that in every so often and just remind the players what Connacht is about and what it means to live in Connacht, to grow up in Connacht and the values and attributes that are in the people here.

“It was a lovely reminder for everyone over the last couple of weeks. I met Joe once or twice through Eric Elwood but this was the first time I got to listen to him speak and incredible is the word I’d use,” said Tucker.

Connacht are now in the last eight of a competition they have played more games in than any other side in Europe but have never got past the semi-finals on three occasions.

They had to dig deep to see off the Welsh but always held an edge at Dexcom Stadium. Connacht, with 60% possession, led 14-8 at the break after finishing the opening half with a flourish despite having Mack Hansen in the bin.

They started the game in similar fashion, taking the contest to a Welsh side they have defeated home and away in the past eleven weeks, and on a perfect night for rugby in Galway, they hit the front after less than three minutes.

The score came from livewire scrum-half Matthew Devine after Sean Jansen had made the initial break and Hansen made inroads before feeding his No.9 who got through two tackles to score.

JJ Hanrahan added the conversion for a perfect start but Connacht struggled to build on it despite plenty of possession and opportunity.

Cardiff hit back and Callum Sheedy got them off the mark with a penalty after 13 minutes in front of the posts. Cardiff, with James Botham and Taulupe Faletau prominent, pushed on from there.

Hansen was binned for killing the ball after a good break by Faletau, but when Cardiff tapped and went in front of the posts, they knocked-on and the opportunity was lost.

The reprieve did not last long for Connacht as Cardiff simply ran it through the numbers with a good pass from Sheedy key to a move which was finished in the right corner by Ray Lee-Lo for an unconverted try two minutes from the interval.

Connacht rallied before the break, opting for the corner from a kickable penalty and they were eventually rewarded just when it seemed Cardiff had done enough to contain them but lock Josh McNally again offended and was binned.

Pictured: Connacht’s Darragh Murray on the charge against Cardiff’s Harri Millard during the European Challenge Cup encounter at Dexcom Stadium on Saturday night. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.