Connacht 9 Cardiff Blues 13: IT WAS neither the result nor the performance Connacht coach Eric Elwood had expected for this first RaboDirect Pro 12 game of the season at the Galway Sportsground.
Rain, wind, and greasy conditions were no excuse, said Elwood, as Connacht failed to capitalise on an abundance of possession. A losing bonus point was no consolation as the Cardiff Blues, missing their internationals, opened their season under new coach Phil Davies with the victory.
“Disappointing is an understatement,” said Elwood. “It was a missed opportunity for sure. Rustiness, yeah, but it was the same for both teams. We have had injuries, other teams have injuries, but I would have thought that what was at stake, with the ball we had and the opportunities we had, I think we should have made it pay and got the four points.
“When you look at the amount of possession we had in both halves – and in the first half we had something like 11 turnovers – and that was into the wind, but we just were not able to hold onto the ball in key areas.”
Within the opening minutes Connacht’s dominant scrum had earned them a succession of penalties, but they reaped nothing for their efforts. Outhalf Miah Nikora missed a 12th minute kick at goal and, despite a series of scrums which had the Blues backpedalling, Connacht could not get over the line. When they did, it was to spill the ball.
Cardiff turned around immediately to kick three points through outhalf Ceri Sweeney – the first of all their 13 points that were posted in a 10 minute period. Sweeney’s touchline kicking, aided by a disruptive lineout led by lock James Down, ensured Connacht found themselves pinned inside their own half.
After Sweeney added a second penalty, their debutant scrumhalf Lewis Jones pounced for the game’s only try after the home side once again failed to secure line-out ball and clear their lines. It gave Cardiff a 13-0 lead at the break which did not look insurmountable given Connacht’s set piece dominance.
With Connacht’s line-out failing to function as effectively as normal, Nikora’s second-half tactical kicking was limited to the up and under. And it started to reap rewards. Johnny O’Connor, Ethienne Reynecke, John Muldoon and Denis Buckley became increasingly involved in open play, while debutant scrumhalf Kieran Marmion was particularly assured behind the scrum.
Within six minutes Nikora had struck the first of three penalties, striking his 40m effort in front of the posts to promise a better finish to this opening fixture.
As Connacht continued to dominate possession and territory, Nikora closed the gap to just four points by the 66th minute with another two penalties. However in the final 10 minutes they could not penetrate a Cardiff side that, while organised in defence, was helped by Connacht’s inability to hold onto possession.
“We had a solid platform and it we had a simple game plan to play the conditions, but our execution let us down,” said Elwood.
CONNACHT:G Duffy; T O'Halloran, E Griffin, M Fifita, F Vainikolo; M Nikora, K Marmion; D Buckley, E Reynecke, R Loughney; M Swift, M McCarthy; J Muldoon, J O'Connor, G Naoupu. Replacements: W Faloon for O'Connor (51 mins), D Gannon for McCarthy (54 mins), R Ah You for Loughney, A Flavin for Reynecke, R Hensahw for Vainikolo and M Jarvis for Griffin (all 60 mins).
CARDIFF BLUES: D Fish; H Robinson, G Evans, G Davies, T James; C Sweeney, L Jones; T Davies, A Kyriacou, T Filise ; R Copeland, J Down; R Watts-Jones, J Navidi, A Pretorius. Replacements: L Reed for Copeland (47 mins), B Bourrest for Davies (54 mins), L Williams for Jones (67 mins), L Hamilton for Watt-Jones (70 mins), N Trevett for Filise (75 mins).
Referee: A McMenemy (SRU).
