No fond farewell for departing trio as Connacht slip up

Connacht 15 Cardiff 22

In this final home game of the season, a departing trio of home players; long-serving leader Gavin Duffy, competition record points scorer Dan Parks and 101-capped Frank Murphy, made second-half cameo appearances, but it was not the farewell performance the three deserved.

With European qualification out of the equation for both sides, coach Pat Lam’s major remit was a best-place finish for the season having moved from 10th to eighth over the last three seasons. And for the opening half it looked entirely possible when Connacht took a lead courtesy of two well-executed tries.