Connacht survive Cardiff comeback in Galway

Connacht had led 19-0 before Cardiff tied the score at 19-19 in the closing minutes

United Rugby Championship

Connacht (14) 24

Tries: Murphy, Hurley-Langton, Heffernan, Tierney-Martin Cons: Ioane 2

Cardiff (0) 19

Tries: Lee-Lo, Donnell, Braley Cons: Sheedy 2

Connacht got back to winning ways with a bonus-point victory over Cardiff in Galway but only after the visitors had erased a 19-0 deficit in the second half.

The hosts, who had lost four straight games in the United Rugby Championship (URC), were in a commanding position after scores from Ben Murphy, Shamus Hurley-Langton and Dave Heffernan.

Cardiff only scored their first points of the contest in the 52nd minute but would tie the game when Callum Sheedy converted Callum Braley's late score.

It was the second time Cardiff had came back from 19-0 down against Irish opposition this season. While they finished the job against Ulster in October, this time Connacht fought back to secure the win.

Having beaten their opposition at the Arms Park only four weeks ago in the Challenge Cup, Connacht's strong start made it seem as if this league meeting would be more of the same.

There were only seven minutes on the clock when in-form scrum-half Ben Murphy scampered over for the opening try.

Back with his province after a spell as a development player with the Ireland squad during their Six Nations preparations, he was put through a gap by his number 10 Josh Ioane for the smart score.

Pete Wilkins' side did suffer an early setback when number eight Paul Boyle departed temporarily for a head injury assessment, but the remaining starting back rows, Cian Prendergast and Hurley-Langton, combined to send the latter over for the side's second soon after.

In the final game before Cardiff boss Matt Sherratt takes interim charge of Wales for the remainder of the Six Nations, his side's best chance to score in the first half came in the final seconds but Josh Murphy got up to spoil their line-out ball.

Incredible comeback comes up short

The visitors started the second half with a lengthy spell of possession but failed to trouble the scoreboard and Connacht seemingly took control of the match when a pair of Cardiff penalties saw them advance to the corner and hooker Heffernan was mauled over the line.

Cardiff had threatened though, and finally got their rewards when Rey Lee-Lo crashed over from close range after a tap penalty with 28 minutes remaining.

Backline injuries with a 6-2 bench split forced Cardiff into a reshuffle but they were back within a score when back row replacement Ben Donnell finished strongly out wide after a fine pass from Rory Jennings.

Incredibly, with nine minutes remaining, the game was level.

With Lee-Lo integral again, Cardiff found huge gaps in the Connacht defence and Braley was on hand to finish off after Johan Mulder had been stopped just short.

Sheedy's conversion tied the scores to leave Cardiff thinking of another famous comeback win but, with four minutes remaining, replacement hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin rescued Connacht with another mauled score.

Line-ups

Connacht: Piers O'Conor; Shayne Bolton, Hugh Gavin, Cathal Forde, Chay Mullins; Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Jack Aungier, Josh Murphy, Joe Joyce, Cian Prendergast, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle.

Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jordan Duggan, Oisin Dowling, Sean Jansen, Matthew Devine, J Hanrahan, Santiago Cordero.

Cardiff: Cameron Winnett; Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Rey Lee-Lo, Rory Jennings, Harri Millard; Callum Sheedy, Johan Mulder; Rhys Barratt, Liam Belcher, Rhys Litterick, Josh McNally, Seb Davies, Alex Mann, Dan Thomas, Alun Lawrence.

Replacements: Efan Daniel, Danny Southworth, Will Davies-King, Rory Thornton, Ben Donnell, Thomas Young , Callum Braley, Jacob Beetham.

Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)

Assistant referees: Keane Davison & Tomas O'Sullivan (IRFU)

TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)