Heffernan on fire as Connacht cruise it
CONNACHT held Cardiff Blues scoreless for the first time as Andy Friend’s side picked up a bonus point victory in their crucial Conference B battle at the Sportsground.
Dave Heffernan picked up a man of the match award for his impressive try-scoring showing following his temporary release from the Ireland squad, while Peter Robb, John Porch and Kyle Godwin also crossed.
‘We’ve been in a bit of a slump and we needed to get a win. It was a reasonably clinical performance so we’re pretty happy’ said Heffernan.
The home side elected to play into the wind and they got off the mark following a Carty penalty, but some excellent breakdown work from Olly Robinson meant Connacht initially didn’t get the reward their play deserved.
But crucially Cardiff lost three of their first five lineouts with Gavin Thornbury twice stealing possession for his side, and the third time was a 27thminute overthrow from Liam Belcher, which led to the opening try as Heffernan showed great pace, footwork and power to crash through.
Carty converted for a 10-0 Connacht lead, and six minutes from the interval Carty’s chip through was finished off by Peter Robb on the right.
Ten minutes after the restart Denis Buckley carried powerfully and delivered a stunning pass behind his back for Porch to score Connacht’s third try. Carty’s conversion made it 22-0.
Cardiff’s play was blighted by their inability to retain possession in attack, and after Robb gathered a ball that squirted from a Blues ruck, Godwin raced clear from his own 22 for the bonus-point try.