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Connacht show enough class to win place at Euro top table
Andy Friend’s men survived a nervy finish, brought on by Jason Harries’ 79th minute try, as they also booked a PRO14 quarter-final trip to provincial rivals Ulster.
A closely fought first half ended 14-7 in Connacht’s favour, the wind-backed home side striking for tries from Caolin Blade and Gavin Thornbury either side of a well-taken Owen Lane effort.
Ireland fly-half Carty sparked a crucial 10-point surge on the restart with a sparkling team try and although Cardiff eventually restored the seven-point deficit thanks to a Gareth Anscombe penalty and Josh Turnbull’s 70th minute try, an opportunist score by Matt Healy ultimately proved enough to ensure European top tier rugby in Galway next season.
The hosts’ first serious attack resulted in the opening try, Paul Boyle bursting clean through and offloading slickly for scrum-half Blade to snipe over close to the the posts on 11 minutes.
TMO Ken Henley-willis ruled out any offside or forward pass and Carty comfortably converted.
The Welshmen entered the second quarter on level terms, big winger Lane exploiting a gap on Darragh Leader’s inside shoulder to dart in under the posts.
Anscombe made it seven points apiece but Connacht were clinical from limited chances, blindside Boyle winning a turnover penalty and claiming the lineout ball which Thornbury turned into a maul try in the right corner on 26 minutes.
Carty swept over a touchline conversion before missing a long-range 33rd minute penalty.
It was all Connacht at the start of the second period despite facing into the elements.
Poor discipline from the Blues allowed Carty to score a 12-metre penalty before the Athlone man grabbed one of the tries of the season.
The attack from deep began with Leader’s quickly-taken lineout, Bundee Aki’s brilliant hands and Healy’s great pace driving their team forward before Carty cruised through a gap and collected his own kick to touch down ahead of Matthew Morgan.
Anscombe cancelled out some of the damage with a quick penalty for a 24-10 scoreline and Connacht were fortunate to avoid conceding a try to Jason Harries on the hour after a TMO review.
A bout of forward play ended with Turnbull driving over in the left corner and Anscombe’s conversion made it 24-17.
All that good work was undone when the Westerners disrupted at the restart, the loose ball forcing Lane back near his line and it went loose again for Healy to gleefully steal in and score by the corner flag.
But Cardiff again showed their battling qualities, working the ball wide for winger Harries to deservedly reach over. CONNACHT are back in the Champions Cup for the first time in three years after star man Jack Carty inspired a bonus point win over Cardiff Blues at The Sportsground.