Connacht's casualty list grows in loss to Cardiff

Connacht 16

IT might only be a first loss in nine games for Connacht but this one, like the only other defeat this season in Glasgow, will rankle for weeks to come with the westerners. They lost to a Cardiff Blues side that is a pale shadow of some great teams of the past, lacking confidence, guile and any sort of wow factor.

Yet Cardiff did just enough to overcome Connacht in this tussle on their 4g pitch at the Arms Park on Friday night. In front of a small crowd that came probably unsure what to expect after a season of seven defeats in the previous eight games, the Blues started well but faded considerably in the first half and were fortunate to trail by just three at the break.

Connacht can legitimately blame injuries for their sluggish start to the second half with both scrum halves forced off, leaving Matt Healy in command of the nine spot which understandably meant slow ball from the base even if it was offset by the winger’s ability to make some blistering half breaks.

Even with all the momentum, the Blues took some time to turn it into points but when Tom James did get their try in the corner, the momentum seemed very much with them. Yet Connacht fought back towards the end and the westerners had the hosts scrambling on numerous occasions in the final stages to cling on for their victory.

From the famous win over Munster, Connacht were without the following starting players for this fixture in the Welsh capital – Robbie Henshaw, AJ MacGinty, Denis Buckley, Ultan Dillane and Eoghan Masterson while Nathan White and Shane Delahunt were rested for the trip. Furthermore, Kieran Marmion was kept in reserve on the bench in the eighth and final change.

Early on in this contest, the injury problems gotworse. Craig Ronaldson was the first to go down thanks to a stray but unintentional head collision with an opponent’s elbow. Quinn Roux, on his first game back having missed five through injury, was stretchered off with a serious leg injury that could have him out for up to three months.

Next to go was Ian Porter at half-time and 60 seconds into Marmion’s evening, he too was out with a head injury leaving Healy to fill in at scrum half, a position he hadn’t occupied since his school days. Eoin McKeon picked up a hand injury in the final quarter after the Blues second try while Bundee Aki went over on his ankle.

In just two games the o field injury count is at 12 with only two of those players (Aki and Porter) in line for a possible recovery by Friday night for the visit of struggling Newcastle in the European Challenge Cup.