Connacht 20 Cardiff 26:BONUS POINT losses no longer provide consolation for Connacht, and coach Eric Elwood is not a man for spin, particularly after surrendering an improving home record to Cardiff on Saturday.
“It’s frustrating to lose a game when you are 11 points clear,” said Elwood. “No more than the Leinster match, you think you can push on, but you don’t, and it has now cost us dearly in two games.”
After a creditable start to the season, Connacht have dropped to eighth place, and with 12 games on the bounce to come in both the Pro 12 and Heineken Cup, Saturday’s loss marked another failure to meet targets.
“We knew this was the start of a huge 13 games, and the key for us after a two-week break was to get the win.
“ We fancied ourselves at home, but credit to Cardiff, they got the win and we now have to go to Ulster, then away to Harlequins the following week, and then we have Toulouse at home, so it’s going to be very tough. We have to get the lads back up now. Confidence will be low because they know it was a game we should have won.”
Connacht, with the strong wind behind them, held a deserved 17-6 lead at the break, but a lack of composure in the face of some aggressive Cardiff defence resulted in the concession of two tries in the space of four minutes after the restart.
“Five minutes of madness cost us dearly. It is hard to take,” said Elwood.
“We made things hard on ourselves in the first half and did not play particularly well, but, that said, we were 11 points clear at the break. Unfortunately we gave up 14 points in five minutes and all of a sudden we are chasing the game. It’s not a position we should have been in.”
Connacht had fueled the expectations of the crowd with an early try from wing Tiernan O’Halloran. George Naoupu, a late replacement for Johnny O’Connor, and prop Rodney Ah You, were influential in the build-up before O’Halloran broke through within two minutes.
Niall O’Connor converted, but a poor restart handed Cardiff the initiative and Dan Parks struck an 11th minute penalty to open the Blues’ account.
O’Halloran was once again influential with a superb take from a restart, providing the field position for Connacht, and when Cardiff were penalised for a high tackle, O’Connor slotted the 13th-minute effort.
The visitors, however, enjoyed a period of superiority, particularly at the breakdown, and were rewarded when Parks kicked a penalty, but crucially Connacht, with a strong set-piece, closed out the half with a try from lock Mike McCarthy following a forward drive from a lineout.
The game turned within five minutes of the restart when Connacht gifted Cardiff possession and Alex Cuthbert struck for the first try.
Then, after a series of scrappy handling, turnover ball, and Connacht’s failure to clear their lines, centre Casey Laulala grabbed the second, both of which Parks converted to put Cardiff into the lead for the first time.
Connacht’s pack sensibly took charge and when Paul Tito was binned, replacement outhalf Miah Nikora extracted the three points to level matters.
But it was Cardiff who finished stronger as Parks added a penalty and drop goal to seal the Blues’ fourth victory, consolidating their top-four position.
CONNACHT:G Duffy; F Vainikolo, E Griffin, H Fa'afili, T O'Halloran; N O'Connor, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, R Ah You; M Swift, M McCarthy; J Muldoon, R Ofisa, G Naoupu. Replacements: B Tuohy for Vainikolo, M Nikora for N O'Connor (both 53 mins), E Reynecke for Flavin, TJ Anderson for Ofisa (both 60 mins), P O'Donohoe for Murphy (68 mins), D Rogers for Ah You (73 mins).
CARDIFF BLUES: C Czekaj; A Cuthbert, C Laulala, D Hewitt, T James; D Parks, R Rees; J Yapp, R Thomas, T Filise; M Paterson, P Tito; M Molitika, J Navidi, X Rush. Replacements: S Hobbs for Yapp, S Andrews for Filise, G Evans for Hewitt (all 60 mins), D Jones for Molitika (63 mins), C Sweeney for Cuthbert (77 mins). Sin bin Tito (59 mins).
Referee: N Paterson (SRU).
