Pete Wilkins delighted with Connacht cool heads after Cardiff comeback

Connacht boss Pete Wilkins hailed his side for not panicking after blowing a 19-0 lead against Cardiff in Galway on Saturday night.

The Westerners, with just three BKT URC wins to their name before kick-off, led 14-0 at half-time, aided by a significant wind at the Dexcom Stadium.

They were further ahead seven minutes after the break when Dave Heffernan scored a third, adding to tries from Ben Murphy and Shamus Hurley-Langton.

But the Welsh side scored three tries in a 17-minute spell to draw level with the hosts needing a late Dylan Tierney-Martin pushover to claim a 24-19 victory

"I am delighted with the win," said Wilkins, whose side moved to 11th in the table.

"To get the five points as well was so important.

"The significance of the game was clear with where we found ourselves in the URC table going into it. You could see that in the players, you could feel that.

"So there were nerves out there, but it didn't translate into panic, which was really important. The players stayed on task and we ground it out."

He added: "There was that run of three tries from Cardiff which changed the whole atmosphere of the game and the stadium.

"For the lads to respond to that shows there is growth there. In days gone by, we probably wouldn’t have been able to reassert ourselves with that momentum.

"I am pleased. The boys found a way and I am really proud of them."

Cardiff boss Matt Sherratt will now take over as interim head coach of Wales until the end of the Guinness Six Nations.

"We are a little bit frustrated," he said.

"Credit to Connacht, they probably got two bits of field position in the second half and scored two tries. Ultimately that proved to be the difference.

"It was one of those that probably slipped away from us.

"The league table