CONNACHT HEAD COACH Stuart Lancaster admits he is still learning about his new team and players and was pleased with the resilience shown to hit back at the death to earn a losing bonus-point from their 14-8 defeat in Cardiff.

In a game that could have gone either way, a breakaway try in the 77th minute by home speedster Tom Bowen turned the tide in favour of the Welsh region. But Dave O’Connor’s even later try ensured Lancaster’s men headed home with something.

There were 65 scoreless minutes between teenage sensation Bowen’s first try and his second and two tough as teak defences held firm in a game that was there for the taking for either side. Cathal Forde’s early penalty was wiped out by Bowen’s converted try in the 12th minute and it remained 7-3 until the dying embers.

Then came the mistake that gifted Cardiff their second home win of the season – and left Lancaster with plenty of work to do ahead of Friday night’s Galway clash with the Bulls.

“We hit our straps early in our first game of the season and built confidence and belief. You are always nervous when you have a situation like we had last week, where you’ve prepared for a game, got mentally ready and then not had the game,” said Lancaster.

“We tried to maintain momentum in the week but I thought we didn’t look sharp enough in all facets of our game to deserve to win. We’re pleased with the effort defensively to get the bonus point, and we hung in there and showed resilience, but there were too many errors to be happy with the performance or to argue that we should have won.

“I am a performance related coach and you have to get your detail right at set-piece and at the breakdown area and we weren’t good enough in those areas. If we had have won, I would still have been disappointed with the quality of the performance.

“We knew it was going to be hard and credit to Cardiff, they dug in and showed resilience. When we conceded that second try our lads could have shrugged their shoulders and not come away with anything, but they fought back to pick up a point.

“These are the points you need to take and no team goes unbeaten in the league. We got a point and now we have a short turn around for a huge game for us against the Bulls on Friday night.”

The second half became what Lancaster described as “a game of kicking chess” as both teams went for territory and tried to squeeze out a mistake.

“I’m still learning about this team and some lads got opportunities and others who have had injuries were able to come off the bench. It’s a painful lesson but in the scheme of things, if we use it in the right way it can motivate us to get to a place that we didn’t get to last season,” added Lancaster.

“That’s the trick – it’s not about dwelling on it and thinking ‘here we go again’. I’ve seen plenty of positives from this group and I also know there is another group who didn’t play who will have been watching back home frustrated and will be raring to go next time.

“During this first block of five games we need to get up to speed and win every game where possible. We have a break over November and then 11 games straight. That takes us to the Six Nations when we get another break. We are in October and the final is the end of June.”