Pro14: Cardiff Blues 29-7 Connacht

Cardiff Blues continued their bright start to the season as they made it two wins from two in Pro14 with a 29-7 bonus point victory over Connacht.

Hallam Amos scored the only try of the first half after the hosts endured plenty of pressure from Connacht.

Conor Oliver's try in the second half gave the visitors hopes of a comeback.

Amos crossed again before a penalty try ended Connacht's resistance and Kristian Dacey's score earned the hosts the bonus point win.

Blues would have felt good about the visit of Connacht having won 14 of their 16 home games against them in Pro14 and the hosts included six players named in the Wales squad this week.

Wales prop Dillon Lewis returned to the starting line-up as Blues made three changes with hooker Kirby Myhill replacing the injured Liam Belcher.

Olly Robinson returned in the back row after Josh Turnbull was banned for three weeks following his red card in the opening 16-6 win at Zebre last weekend.

Connacht, who have won five of their last six games against Welsh opposition in the Pro14, made two changes from their 28-24 victory over Glasgow Warriors.

Eoghan Masterson started at blindside flanker and Sammy Arnold replaced Tom Farrell to partner Bundee Aki with the contest played at Rodney Parade in Newport.

The Blues' Arms Park home is still unavailable as part of the field hospital at Principality Stadium

There has also been damage to the pitch which will mean more home games in Newport until at least the end of November.

Ireland centre Aki was a danger man for the hosts, having scored four tries in his last three Pro14 appearances, including a brace of tries in the opening round against Glasgow.

Jarrod Evans' penalty put Blues ahead after six minutes and the hosts held firm despite some early Connacht pressure with Rey Lee-Lo producing a firm tackle to stop Aki in his tracks.

Jarrod Evans has made six appearances for Wales including one start

Connacht enjoyed plenty of first half pressure and territory but they were caught by a rapid Blues move as the hosts scored the first try of the match on 36 minutes.

Matthew Morgan's movement caused problems for the Connacht defence and he set up Josh Adams who tore down the line and was able to find Amos who surged over the gain line, with Evans impressively adding the extras from a tough angle.

Blues defended two Connacht scrums deep in their own half at the start of the second period but Dillon Lewis' yellow card was followed almost immediately by Oliver crashing over. Jack Carty added the extras to make the score 10-7.

The visitors poured forward seeking another try but Lee-Lo won the ball and freed Amos to cross for a vital try, though this time Evans was unable to covert from a tight angle.

Blues then got several players on an overlap as a third try seemed certain, but Peter Sullivan knocked the ball on and was yellow carded with the penalty try also awarded by referee Gianluca Gnocchi.

That score was quickly followed by replacement Dacey bundling over the line with veteran Jason Tovey adding the extras to complete the scoring.

Cardiff Blues head coach John Mulvihill said: "We lifted the intensity again from last week where we drew the maturity to get out of our own end, but didn't really bring our attacking game.

"But today we were good coming out of our end but also had that sharpness in attack and that's what we wanted to bring. That was the focus for the week."

Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan; Josh Adams, Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo, Hallam Amos; Jarrod Evans, Lloyd Williams; Corey Domachowski, Kirby Myhill, Dillon Lewis, Seb Davies, Cory Hill (capt), Shane Lewis-Hughes, Olly Robinson, James Botham.

Replacements: Kristian Dacey, Rhys Carre, Dmitri Arhip, Ben Murphy, Alun Lawrence, Lewis Jones, Jason Tovey, Garyn Smith.

Connacht: John Porch; Peter Sullivan, Sammy Arnold, Bundee Aki, Alex Wooton; Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham, Gavin Thornbury, Quinn Roux, Eoghan Masterson, Conor Oliver, Jarrad Butler (capt).

Replacements: Shane Delahunt, Jordan Duggan, Jack Aungier, Ultan Dillane, Paul Boyle, Stephen Kerins, Conor Fitzgerald, Tom Daly.

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)

Assistant Referees: Craig Evans, Adam Jones (both WRU)

TMO: Jon Mason (WRU)