Cardiff 14

Connacht 8

By JOHN FALLON IN CARDIFF

CONNACHT Head Coach Stuart Lancaster insisted that the postponement of their home clash with Scarlets had an impact as they fell to their first defeat of the season when going down to Cardiff at the Arms Park on Saturday.

Lancaster had hoped to build momentum from their opening round win over Benetton at Dexcom Stadium but their clash was called off when the Llanelli side were unable to travel to Galway because of Storm Amy.

The new Connacht sideline chief indicated at the outset of the season that he would rotate his side over the opening block of five games to give players a chance to shine and the team he selected for the game in Cardiff showed just one change from that rostered to play against Scarlets.

“I’m pleased we got a point but I’m not sure we deserved it in the end. I said it to lads in the changing room, I was always nervous about missing the game last week and I felt it showed,” said Lancaster after the loss in the Arms Park.

A try by replacement lock David O’Connor salvaged a bonus point for a Connacht side who sit three points outside the top half with a game in hand after these early rounds. But this performance was far too akin to last season when Connacht were unable to close out tight games.

“I thought we lacked sharpness at the ruck, Cardiff were very good there,” added Lancaster. “We lacked sharpness in the air, we lacked sharpness at set-piece, we lacked sharpness everywhere really to be honest.

“So, for the standards that we set and that I’m expecting, we were down on that. But as I said to the boys, there’s some boys playing the first game of the season, so we can’t dwell on it too long.

“We got the point. It’s a very difficult place to come so we’re pleased with that. But we need to move on quickly because we’ve got the Bulls coming to Galway on Friday.”

It was a poor contest. Connacht, bidding for their sixth successive win over Cardiff in the league and Europe, hit the front with a penalty from Cathal Forde after 11 minutes but didn’t score again until the clock was in the red at the end of the game.

Welsh rugby is crying out for greenshoots and Cardiff have certainly found one in winger Tom Bowen, son of the former Scarlets out-half Gareth. The 19-year-old backed up his hat-trick against Munster the previous week with a brace in this one.

Forewarned should be forearmed but the spectacular try Cardiff produced for Bowen’s second five-pointer against Munster was repeated as out-half Callum Sheedy floated a crosskick to the left corner which Bowen gathered while diving to execute a quality score after 14 minutes. Sheedy curled the conversion from the left to make it 7-3 but that’s where the magic died and there wasn’t another score for over an hour.

The spectacle was not helped by a lengthy delay to the second half as the match officials tried to get the referee’s communications system working as both sides went through a few passing drills to try remain focused.

Both defences were solid but struggled in attack and Cardiff wrapped up the game when Bowen pounced inside his own half to snatch Hugh Gavin’s pass to his captain Cian Prendergast to sprint away and score under the posts four minutes from time, after Finn Treacy had been denied in the right corner moments earlier.

Replacement scrum-half Matthew Devine was stopped short but Connacht persevered and replacement lock O’Connor scored after a couple of phases from a five-metre scrum to rescue a bonus point as Lancaster now turns his attention to the Bulls coming to Galway on Friday.

“It’s a huge game for us. It’s a short turnaround getting back to Galway on Sunday afternoon. We’ve got a good squad and for me, it’s just giving the boys belief that, even though we didn’t play well, we stayed in the fight. We got the point. Cardiff are a hard team to beat at home and deserved the win for sure.”

Cardiff: C Winnett; J Beetham, H Millard (O Darwin-Lewis 78), S Emanuel (J Mler 74), T Bowen; C Sheedy (I Lloyd 70), J Mulder (A Davies 66); D Southworth (R Barratt 51), L Belcher (D Hughes 60), K Assiratti (J Sebastian 51), J McNally, T Williams (G Nott 33), B Donnell, D Thomas (T Basham 66), A Lawrence.

Connacht: S Naughton; C Mullins, D Hawkshaw (H Gavin 51), C Forde, S Bolton (F Treacy 50-54); J Carty (Treacy 61), B Murphy (M Devine 69); D Buckley (J Duggan 35), D Heffernan (E de Buitléar 56), J Aungier (S Illo 54), D Murray, J Joyce (D O’Connor 54), C Prendergast (c), S O’Brien (S Hurley-Langton 51), S Jansen.

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy).

Pictured: Connacht’s David O’Connor who grabbed a last-gasp try to earn the Westerners a bonus point in their URC defeat to Cardiff at the Arms Park on Saturday.