Connacht 38 Cardiff 19
Connacht duly secured safe passage through to the knock-out stages with a fairly commanding and routine win over Cardiff in front of an expectant 5,322 attendance at the Sportsground, but in all likelihood they will need to beat Glasgow away next weekend in order to also earn qualification for next season’s Champions Cup.
Although this bonus point kept hold of sixth place in the table on 49 points, both the Bulls (48 points, and with a much superior points difference) and the Sharks (46 points) are in striking distance.
The Bulls and the Sharks are at home to Leinster and Munster next Saturday, although at least those games will have been completed by the time Connacht’s game commences in Scotstoun in the final game of the round at 7.35pm.
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A top six finish would guarantee a place in next season’s Champions Cup, while seventh place would also do so provided neither Benetton or the Scarlets win the Challenge Cup. It seems particularly unfair that the Welsh and Scottish Unions ensured there was a place ring-fenced for the winners of their Shields, given Cardiff top the Welsh section and are thus on course to qualify for the Champions Cup even though they sit 11th in the overall table.
Certainly there was a clear gulf in quality here, as Connacht justified favouritism with their ninth win in 11 competitive home games this season and their sixth URC win on the spin.
As is usually the case, their lineout – where Dylan Tierney-Martin hit all of his throws and Josh Murphy and the excellent Niall Murray reigned supreme – was a notable area of supremacy.
So too the scrums, whether before or after the raft of replacements, and with Jack Carty pulling the strings and striking the ball well, these solid foundations were the platform for their more nuanced attacking patterns and options off the ball.
They also had more X-factor in players such as Caolin Blade, Bundee Aki, who had a very efficient and selfless all-round game, Tom Farrell, Mack Hansen and the talented, strong-running Diarmuid Kilgallen.
Thankfully the daylong rain more or less relented before kick-off, and the Sportsground looked a picture, as the 4G pitch glistened under the lights to the backdrop of a packed ground.
In truth though, despite the magnitude of the game and this being their last home match of the season, the crowd was somewhat muted in between scores, albeit by half-time Connacht had scored four tries to secure their attacking bonus point.
Although they failed to translate their first two attacking lineouts into points, Connacht were up and running by the 13th minute. The try actually emanated from a lineout on their own 22 as they worked the Cardiff defence through the phases. After some nice interplay between forwards and backs, Tom Farrell spotted a gap and galloped through it, drawing the last man before Diarmuid Kilgallen, who’d already made two good carries out of nothing, sped up on his shoulder to finish.
Aki departed for an HIA, returning within then minutes, before Harrad Butler departed permanently after winning an important penalty in the jackal.
After James Botham was yellow carded with a high hit on Kilgallen which might have warranted a red, Carty kicked to the corner. Dylan Tierney-Martin hit Niall Murray and though Cardiff defended the initial drive well, the hooker peeled off to score with a little help from Cian Prendergast and Shamus Hurley-Langton.
After Aki and Murray offloaded in turn for Hurley-Langton to make inroads, the third was all down to the opportunism and elusiveness of Caolin Blade. Stepping left and then right with a scrum penalty advantage, he left Tomos Williams in his slipstream and offloaded out of the tackle by Ben Thomas under the posts for Conor Oliver, like all good opensides, to be in support for the score.
Cardiff did briefly come to life and strike back after attacking from a lineout on the 22, thanks in the main to a show and go by hooker Liam Belcher before Seb Davies crashed over a couple of phases later.
But Connacht responded with some of their best rugby, Mack Hansen becoming increasingly involved with one good take and a big carry, before Carty deftly shifted the ball for Aki to offload and Hansen steamed on to the ball to beat before stepping the last man to score between the posts.
No doubt with their ears still stinging from Dai Young’s half-time dressing down, Cardiff responded strongly at the start of the second-half. A harsh penalty against Oliver for what looked like a legitimate jackal maintained the pressure before Thomas Young was driven over by an unstoppable lineout maul.
Connacht were reprieved by a couple of overthrows at two more attacking lineouts before Owen Lane received lengthy treatment and was stretchered off after his caught Hansen’s knee as the latter claimed a high ball.
The home side then made their push for a decisive three-score lead entering the final quarter. A good launch play, Aki taking Blade’s long pass to the line and feeding Hansen with a no-look pass back inside to carry over the gain line. Although the multiphase attack ended with a knock-on by Hansen, after a huge ovation greeted Kieran Marmion’s entry on his final Sportsground outing, Connacht’s reserve front-row and scrum turned the screw to earn a penalty which Carty kicked to the corner.
Aki joined the catch-and-drive at the back and looked to have scored but by then the referee Sam Grove-White was heading towards the posts and signalling a penalty try, also yellow carding Young.
The Fields was by now being given plenty of airings in The Clan Terrace, all the more so after a trademark lineout steal by Murray. After another penalty to the corner, the packed went into overdrive once more before Marmion fittingly sniped around the blindside to score _ the roars increasing when the big screen confirmed the identity of the scorer.
Although Young had the final say with his second try, with that the Bristol-bound Marmion and the other seven departing players were given the perfect send off.
Scoring sequence: 13 mins Kilgallen try, Carty con 7-0; 18 mins Tierney-Martin try 12-0; 27 mins Oliver try, Carty con 10-0; 31 mins Davies try, Priestland con 19-7; 37 mins Hansen try, Carty con 26-7; (half-time 26-7); 48 mins Young try 26-12; 66 mins penalty try 33-12; 76 mins Maqrmion try 38-12; 80 mins Young try, Priestland con 38-19.
Connacht: Tiernan O’Halloran, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Jack Carty (capt), Caolin Blade, Denis Buckley, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Finlay Bealham, Josh Murphy, Niall Murray, Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver, Jarrad Butler
Replacements: Tom Daly for Aki (14-24 mins) and fpr Carty (70 mins), Shamus Hurley-Langton for Butler (17 mins), Dominic Robertson-McCoy for Bealham (55 mins), Peter Dooley for Buckley, Oisín Dowling for Murphy (60 mins), Kieran Marmion for Blade (64 mins), Eoin de Buitléar for Tierney-Martin, Shane Jennings for O’Halloran (both 66 mins).
Cardiff: Ben Thomas, Owen Lane, Mason Grady, Max Llewellyn, Jason Harries, Rhys Priestland, Tomos Williams (capt); Corey Domachowski, Liam Belcher, Keiron Assiratti, Lopeti Timani, Seb Davies, James Botham, Thomas Young, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Josh Turnbull for (Timani 33 mins), Kristian Dacey for Belcher (52 mins), Rhys Carré for Domachowski, Dillon Lewis for Assiratti, Harri Millard for Lane (all 60 mins), James Ratti for Botham (64 mins), Rory Thornton for Davies (71 mins), Lloyd Williams for T Williams (74 mins).
Sinbinned: Botham (17-27 mins), Young (66-76 mins).
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
