Cardiff 31 Connacht 6: For the second week in succession, Connacht were stung by a team seeking recovery from a previous Celtic League defeat and came away empty-handed from the Arms Park in Cardiff.
Last week it was Ulster who inflicted the damage, and yesterday evening it was the turn of a Cardiff outfit seeking redress after their humiliating, 39-3 loss to table toppers the Ospreys.
With four changes to their side, including the new half-back pairing of young outhalf Nick Macleod and Dean Dewdney, Cardiff's frustration with a growing injury list manifested itself in a committed display in front of 2,800 fans. They picked up a bonus point with a fourth try on the stroke of full time, consigning Connacht to one of their worst defeats since Michael Bradley took over.
Connacht, too, had made changes, with a first start for four players, but it failed to produce the result Bradley had expected.
Cardiff dictated throughout and were deserving winners against an unusually shapeless Connacht.
Cardiff, ahead 14-3 just after the break, were content to kick for position, keeping Connacht pinned inside their half. With radical surgery required, Bradley made the necessary changes with Eric Elwood, Michael Swift, Conor O'Loughlin and John Fogarty coming into the fray.
Initially it added some measure of relief, with Paul Warwick potting a simple penalty in front of the posts to keep Connacht's hopes alive.
But within minutes Cardiff killed off that slim chance when another poor positional kick set up Shanklin on the counterattack, and, when he pierced the initial line of defence, it was an easy finish for full back Rhys Williams.
Thereafter Connacht lost composure and shape as Cardiff ran riot, and even with the loss of Robert Sidoli to the sinbin, Cardiff swooped for two more tries from the influential Craig Morgan and Dewdney.
It mattered little that Macleod failed to add the conversions. With sufficient experience around him, he was not the Achilles heel Connacht had hoped.
Admittedly the youngster missed two first-half penalties and a conversion, but he grew in confidence, and had a potent three-quarters to mitigate any deficiencies.
Connacht were not helped when Matt Mostyn was forced off after just three minutes, requiring some rapid surgery to an already struggling midfield.
McHugh, in his first game of the season since returning from injury, understandably looked a little ring-rusty, and but for Shanklin's poor handling on several occasions, the scoreboard could have been worse by the break.
McHugh struggled to find his kicking boots, with neither the distance nor the height from an ambitious, 31st-minute penalty just inside the 10 metre line.
But when Dewdney was penalised for not releasing, Warwick struck the 38th-minute effort to keep Connacht in the game.
It proved a delusion as Connacht's limitations helped Cardiff to their first bonus point.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 15 mins: Macleod penalty 3-0; 25: Shanklin try 8-0; 35: Macleod penalty 11-0; 38: Warwick penalty 11-3. Half-time:11-3. 48: Macleod penalty 14-3; 59: Warwick penalty 14-6; 64: Williams try, Macleod conversion, 21-6; 75: Morgan try 26-6; 79: Dewdney try 31-6.
CARDIFF BLUES: R Williams; N Walne, T Shanklin, T Davies, C Morgan; N Macleod, D Dewdney; G Jenkins, G Williams, M Jones, D Jones, R Sidoli, N Thomas, M Williams (capt), K Schubert. Replacements: H Senekal for D Jones (78 mins), K Fourie for M Jones (81 mins), A Lewis for Jenkins (81 mins).
CONNACHT: D Slemen; N O'Brien, M Mostyn, M McHugh, C McPhillips; P Warwick, T Tierney; D McFarland, B Jackman, P Bracken, P Myburgh, A Farley (capt), P Neville, M Lacey, J O'Sullivan. Replacements: T Robinson for Mostyn (3 mins), J Fogarty for Jackman (half-time), C O'Loughlin for Tierney (43 mins), E Elwood for Slemen (56 mins), M Swift for Neville (58 mins), A Clarke for Bracken (78 mins), M Carroll for Myburgh (80 mins).
Yellow cards: R Sidoli (66m).
Referee: M Changleng (Scotland).
