Cardiff complete incredible comeback against Ulster while Connacht make light work of Dragons

Cardiff produced an astonishing second-half turnaround to stun Ulster 21-19 at a raucous Arms Park in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday night.

The lethargic home side looked dead and buried at half-time when they trailed 19-0 but after the interval emerged a totally different outfit to register 21 unanswered points.

Iwan Stephens, Dafydd Hughes and Thomas Young scored their tries, with Callum Sheedy converting all three.

For Ulster, Jude Postlethwaite grabbed two tries and Cormac Izuchukwu another, with Nathan Doak adding two conversions.

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It took Ulster 10 minutes to raise their first attack but they certainly made it count with a continuous battering of the opposition line.

Cardiff hooker Evan Lloyd was yellow-carded for persistent team infringements before Izuchukwu capitalised by forcing his way over.

Worse was to follow for the Welsh region when a strong run from Doak split the home defence to create a try for Postlethwaite before another flowing move culminated in the centre crossing for another.

Lloyd eventually returned from the sin-bin after seeing his side concede 19 points in his absence before Ulster suffered a blow when their captain Iain Henderson departed with an injury.

The only positive for Cardiff in a dismal first-half performance was the solidity of their scrum which won a couple of penalties but they still remained scoreless at the interval.

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Five minutes after the restart, the home side had their best chance for points when a neat break from Ben Thomas gave Mason Grady an opportunity.

However, the wing fumbled before stumbling into touch with the line only metres away.

Cardiff maintained their momentum and were aided by a yellow card for Ulster number eight David McCann for a deliberate offside and this allowed them to come on the scoreboard with Stephens out-flanking the cover defence to leap over in the corner.

McCann returned from the sin-bin and in time to see Hughes burst away from a maul for an unopposed run to the line and bring the home side right back into contention with 15 minutes remaining.

The comeback was complete when Young rolled over from a driving line-out, with Sheedy’s conversion giving Cardiff the four points.

Bonus-point win for Connacht

Replacement Matthew Devine’s last-minute intercept try topped off a comfortable 31-7 United Rugby Championship win for Connacht over Dragons.

Paul Boyle, Caolin Blade and captain Cian Prendergast crossed during the first half at Dexcom Stadium, as the westerners led 19-0 in search of their third win in six games.

It took 73 minutes before the bonus point was registered through Cathal Forde, and despite Taine Basham’s consolation score, Devine made sure to have the final say.

Pete Wilkins’ side applied the early pressure via a scrum penalty. Some close-in carries led to Boyle bashing his way over, supported by Dylan Tierney-Martin. Forde converted.

Dragons drew encouragement from Aneurin Owen’s well-won penalty, while Ewan Rosser and the returning Aaron Wainwright both got their hands on the ball before the attack petered out.

Indeed, the hosts were clinical soon after, Shayne Bolton’s burst out wide putting them on the front foot, and Bundee Aki’s instinctive offload, in front of the posts, sent Blade over to make it 14-0.

Connacht’s maul defence frustrated the Welsh outfit twice, and Angus O’Brien’s 50:22 kick also amounted to nothing. His half-back partner, Dane Blacker, was then swatted out of the way by Prendergast for a try before half-time.

Even the introduction of Rhodri Williams, fresh from his shock Wales call-up, could not inspire a score for Dragons. Aki broke up their attacking pressure with a turnover.

Basham could not link with his support on a pacy break, but Connacht got the scoreboard moving again late on.

Scrum-half Devine brilliantly slipped out of two tackles to release Forde for the try-line, with the centre also adding the conversion.

Basham showed impressive strength to reply for Dragons, following another O’Brien 50:22 kick, only for Devine to soon scamper clear from just inside his own half.

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