Below par Connacht unable to cope with fired-up Cardiff men

Date Published: {J}

Connacht 12

Cardiff 26

Rob Murphy

THE last chance of win number eight might well have slipped away at the Sportsground on Friday night as a ruthless Cardiff side pounded their opponents over the course of 80 minutes and were fully deserving of this Magners League victory. Ulster and Munster are next up and Connacht have slipped back to ninth in the table meaning a disappointing end to the campaign now seems likely.

A victory at either Ravenhill or Thomond in the next three weeks would probably be rated as a best ever Magners League win for the province, but nothing about the way this side have been playing in recent week suggests that such a scenario is anything other than a long shot. Connacht are starting to limp towards the summer.

Friday was always going to be a tougher assignment then the six triumphant home games that had come before. Cardiff are a top six side, European Challenge Cup holders and well backed financially.

When a team like that decide they are up for a Magners League game against the westerners, nothing can be done to stop them.

Two crucial second half sin-binnings, countless handling errors and a lack of continuity at the breakdown could all be blamed for Friday’s defeat but even in a scenario where all was well in those areas, it’s hard to see how more than a bonus point could have been achieved.

Connacht didn’t have the quality required to challenge the Welsh out wide, especially in the centres where the home side were ruthlessly exposed as a non blunt force. Up front, the pack just missed Michael Swift’s brute force at times and they never really got to grips with proceedings.

As a team, to a man, Connacht were fully committed from start to finish and the attitude was bang on. Under Eric Elwood, the level of commitment and focus has been refreshingly consistent throughout the campaign and it explains a record haul of nine bonus points in the campaign.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.