CARDIFF Blues made it two wins from two in the new season against a Connacht side that never really got going.
Connacht's trip to Wales on the day of the game looked like it played a part as they were sluggish in the first half with the Blues scoring through Hallam Amos and the boot of flyhalf Jarrod Evans.
Connacht failed to register a point before the break. They did score through Conor Oliver in the second period but failed to make the most of a yellow card to Blues prop Dillon Lewis.
Amos' second try was the game's crucial score before a penalty try and a Kristian Dacey score gave the Blues a bonus point.
Blues looked certain to score in the second minute when Lloyd Williams raced clear, but they gave away a penalty for illegally piling into the ruck.
Evans kicked an early penalty and Connacht lost prop Finlay Bealham and hooker Dave Heffernan to injury. Blues hooker Kirby Myhill soon followed him to the sidelines.
There was plenty of endeavour from both sides, but also an inability to retain possession for long periods and a lack of cutting edge in attack.
The Blues finally broke through in the 36th minute once Josh Adams got involved. Matthew Morgan had started well and made the initial break before finding Adams who passed inside to Amos to finish. Evans converted and Blues turned around 10-0 up.
At the start of the second half Blues lost possession on their own line and Connacht had a series of reset scrums. A flow of forward drives looked like producing a try but they could not hold on to the ball and another golden opportunity was lost.
Connacht still had all the field position and this time they used their lineout as they turned down kickable penalties.
Lewis was yellow carded for illegally trying to stop a drive and flanker Oliver dived over.
Jack Carty converted, but despite being a man down Blues hit back as Rey Lee-Lo made the telling break and Amos finished off in the corner.
Evans couldn't convert, but the try was crucial as the Blues were then back up to a full 15 and an eightpoint lead.
Blues should have scored a third try when they had a huge overlap out left. Kristian Dacey tried to find Amos for his hat-trick, but the ball was deliberately knocked on by Peter O'Sullivan resulting in a penalty try and yellow card.
The seven points made the game safe and there was still time for Dacey to add gloss to the score with Jason Tovey converting.
TEAMS
CARDIFF BLUES: Morgan 8; Adams 8, Lee-Lo 7, Halaholo 6 (Smith 69, 6), Amos 8; Evans 7 (Tovey 73, 6), Williams 7 (Jones 73, 6); Domachowski 6 (Carre 59, 6), Myhill 5 (Dacey 25, 7), Lewis 6 (Arhip 66, 6), Davies 7 (Murphy 69, 6), Hill (c) 7, Lewis-Hughes 8, Robinson 7 (Arhip 59-66, 6), Botham 6 (Lawrence 71, 6) CONNACHT: Porch 5; Sullivan 4, Aki 6, Arnold 5, Wootton 4; Carty 5 (Fitzgerald 57, 6), Marmion 6; Buckley 5 (Duggan 66, 6), Heffernan 5 (Delahunt 18, 6), Bealham 5 (Aungier 9, 6), Thornbury 6 (Dillane 51, 6), Roux 6, Masterson 6, Oliver 6 (Boyle 66, 6), Butler (c) 6 Not used: Kerins, Daly REFEREE: Gianluca Gnecchi Star man Shane Lewis-Hughes – Blues
