URC, round three: Cardiff 14 Connacht 8
Connacht ended their winning streak against Cardiff in Wales in their second URC fixture of the new season on Saturday, their first defeat at Arms Park since 2021.
Connacht pounded the line at the death and came close when Matt Devine’s effort was deemed short. However, from the resulting scrum and 12 phases of play, eventually replacement David O’Connor crashed over in the corner to earn a bonus point.
Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster will applaud their fortitude at the end, but his side simply did not play well enough, giving away too many penalties, while failing to look after the ball.
Despite having 56 per cent of possession and territory, Connacht didn’t have wherewithal to break down an excellent Cardiff defence in a low-scoring battle between the two mid-table sides.
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The visitors were first off the mark, capitalising on an early penalty where Cardiff strayed offside, giving Cathal Forde the chance to kick the opening points.
It was short-lived, however, as the home side then took control. Camped on the Connacht line, Cardiff made little headway through the pack, but a clever kick-pass from outhalf Callum Sheedy found Tom Bowen for a run-in to score, Sheedy adding the conversion for the 7-3 lead.
Connacht were then given a let off when Cardiff conceded a penalty for blocking, but the hosts was soon back in possession as Lancaster’s men continued to rack up penalties.
Poor handling denied Cardiff another try as their one-way traffic was lead by a dominant pack.
Connacht’s penalties continued to mount, with eight conceded by the 30th minute, gifting Cardiff the chance of a score from a tap-and-go, Sean Jansen and Joe Joyce sparing the western province.
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.
Without support, Murphy conceded a penalty for holding and yet another opportunity went begging as Cardiff entered the break 7-3 to the good.
Connacht’s woes followed them into the second half, losing two lineouts in succession before a solid scoring opportunity was extinguished by brilliant defence from Cardiff.
As the game meandered on, becoming increasingly defence-focused, Connacht again spurned a perfect scoring opportunity after a well-worked backline move broke down.
By the 70th minute the westerners had created their best attacking move, opting to maul from a penalty touch before Devine went blind and fed Finn Treacy.
With three men to beat, Treacy was stymied from touching down when Callum Sheedy knocked the ball out of his hand in the dive to score.
Minutes later another opportunity amounted to nothing when Jansen lost the ball five metres from the line.
Now taking the game to Cardiff, good work from Bolton forced a knock-on from Cardiff after a Devine up-and-under, but Connacht lacked the precision to score from the resulting attacking scrum.
With minutes remaining, Lancaster’s side had possession and looked the more likely to score. It seemed all over when Bowen intercepted well inside his own half, but eventually O’Connor delivered the bonus point.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 11 mins: Forde pen 0-3; 14: Bowen try, Sheedy con 7-3; Half time 7-3; 76: Bowen try, Lloyd con 14-3; 82: O’Connor try 14-8
CARDIFF: C Winnett; J Beetham, H Millard, S Emanuel, T Bowen; C Sheedy, J Mulder; D Southworth, L Blecher, K Assiratti; J McNally, T Williams; B Donnell, D Thomas, A Lawrence.
Replacements: G Nott for Williams (33 mins), R Barratt for Southworth, J Sebastian for Assiratti (both 52), D Hughes for Belcher (60), T Basham for Thomas (65), A Davies for Mulder (66), I Lloyd for Sheedy (70), Mulder for Emanuel (74), O Darwin-Lewis for Millard (78).
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, S O’Brien, S Jansen.
Replacements: J Duggan for Buckley (35 mins), F Treacy for Bolton (h-t), S Hurley-Langton for O’Brien, H Gavin for Hawkshaw (both 51), S Illo for Aungier, Bolton for Tracy (both 54), D O’Connor for Joyce (54), E de Buitlear for Heffernan (56), M Devine for Murphy (69).
Referee: G Gnecchi (ITA).
