Connacht edge past Cardiff

Connacht survived a second-half onslaught and escaped with a narrow 23-22 victories over Cardiff at the Galway Sportsground last night.

The Welsh side seemed to be cruising after they notched up three tries in the second half. They had a chance to win it too with the last kick of the match, but the fly-half Nick Robinson sent his 50-metre effort from the left-wing well wide.

The home side took the lead with a try after just three minutes. Eric Elwood failed to ground in an assault on the Cardiff line, but the flanker Paul Neville dived through from the ruck. Elwood delivered the conversion and two penalties to give Connacht a 13-0 lead after 24 minutes. Elwood then struck a huge penalty from just inside the half to push the lead to 16-0.

It was a different story in the second half, though, as with the wind at their back, Cardiff soon ate into Connacht's advantage. Three tries, two of them by Robinson helped build a 22-16 lead just after the hour. However, Connacht hit back with a try from hooker Marnus Uijs and held on to their lead when Robinson missed his late kick.