Connacht took the lead early in the first half after a great line from young wing Tiernan O'Halloran saw him cut through the Cardiff Blues defensive line.

Good use of the maul by Connacht had gotten them into that position and TOH was the one to take advantage. O'Connor converted to give Connacht an early 7-0 lead.

The maul was used to good effect again on 27 minutes, with Flavin being the the man in possession over the line. This left the score at 17-6 going into the half time interval after Niall again converted the try.

At the start of the second half Connacht must have come out with the goal of protecting their lead and building pressure. However Cardiff struck fast and fatally, bagging two tries, on 41 and 44 minutes respectively, to gain the lead and undo the good work Connacht had done in the first half. This put all of the pressure on Connacht, and though they put in some good periods of play, they did not recover from that initial blitz by Cardiff. After the collapse at Leinster, Connacht fans and the team management would be worried what is happeneing when the team takes the lead.

Check out the match thread on the Connacht Clan Forum.