Lack of physicality cost Connacht against Cardiff, says Muldoon

Connacht slumped to a second Pro14 defeat of the season as they were beaten by Cardiff Blues 17-15 at the Sportsground.

It was a neck-and-neck encounter in Galway, with the Westerners taking the lead through a Craig Ronaldson penalty, before Willis Halaholo responded with a try for Cardiff, which Steve Shingler converted.  

The Irish province regained the lead with a Darragh Leader try, before Shingler again pushed Cardiff ahead with a penalty. 

A try for Shane Delahunt, which Leader converted, with four minutes to go, looked to have won it for Connacht, before a last-minute Halaholo try and Jarrod Evans conversion stole victory for the Welsh side at the death.

The defeat leaves Connacht fourth in Conference A.

Speaking post-match, Connacht captain John Muldoon admitted his side were second best on the day and that if they had secured victory it would have been somewhat undeserved; the captain also pinpointed his side’s lack of physicality as key to their defeat. 

“We nearly robbed it at the end. By and large we didn’t play well enough in the first half and we got a bit of a talking down at half-time and we came out with a little bit more fire in our bellies,” said Muldoon. 

“But on the whole Cardiff probably deserved it and we nearly snuck it at the end. And it probably would have been a bit of an injustice to Cardiff. 

“We didn’t get the physicality right and they outmuscled us a little bit.” 

A little bit more wisdom in the finer arts of the game also served Cardiff well, according to Muldoon, saying: "They did very well to play down the clock a lot and frustrate us. 

"We just didn’t get any go-forward (ball). We were a lot better in the second half - I think. But we’ll be disappointed when we look back at that. That’s two weeks in a row now we’ll have to lick our wounds and be disappointed.  

"In fairness to the Dragons last week they played us off the park, and in fairness to ourselves we were the downfall of ourselves a lot tonight."

Losing the breakdown battle and coughing up penalties were crucial elements to the defeat and two clear work-ons for Connacht ahead of their clash with reigning Pro14 champions Scarlets next weekend.  

"We didn’t manage the breakdown well enough and I’ll have to look at it again tonight, and whether that was officiating or not, we’re not getting the referee right or vice versa. We gave away too many penalties and gave them too many lifelines. Exactly the same as Dragons last time. It’s a big issue for us at the moment that we need to fix, and nobody can fix that but the players out on the pitch," said Muldoon.

"We certainly have a bit to do. At times we show what we’re trying to do and we’re getting there. But at other times lapses in concentration are costing us big time and that was one of them (leaking a try) at the end there."

On Friday, Leinster suffered their first defeat of the season when they were beaten by the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on a 38-19 scoreline, while Ulster maintained their 100% start by beating Dragons 52-25 at Kingspan Stadium, leaving UIster top of Conference B, with Leinster in second. Munster also fell to their first defeat of the season as they lost 37-10 to Glasgow at Scotstoun, which left the Munstermen second in Conference A, trailing just Glasgow.

Image: Inpho/James Crombie

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