Owen Lane was been praised for scoring “an international wing’s finish” after his try helped lift the Cardiff Blues to within two points of the top three places in the Guinness Pro 14 Conference A.
Lane – who also scored a notable try against Lyon last week – was left out of Warren Gatland’s squad for the Six Nations.
But after he touched down for the crucial score against Connacht in the Blues’ narrow 8-7 victory, coach John Mulvihill said: “Owen finished really well in the corner. That’s an international wing’s finish.
“It was better than last week’s and was a great finish. We were down to 13 men, and only had six backs, so I didn’t think we’d go wide in that scenario, but it was great work between Owen and Lloyd Williams down the left.”
Lane looked as he might make the Wales squad back in the autumn, but then saw his progress halted with a hamstring injury.
But since returning this month he has quickly picked up on the form that caught the eye in the autumn and he has now scored four tries in his last three matches.
Aside from Lane’s contribution, Mulvihill also had admiration for the collective spirit shown by his team and added: “I wasn’t sure if an eight-point difference was going to be enough going into the wind in the second half, but the boys hung tough.
“The penalty count against us was 11-5 in the first half, and discipline was one of the key things we spoke about during half time, because it allows teams to get out when we’ve got them under pressure.
“Our discipline in the second half was outstanding, and that’s what kept us in the game and got us to the right areas of the field.
“We usually go hard at the breakdown, but when we went down to 13 men, you can’t really do that, so we left the ruck alone and spread the field.
“We’ve played games against the likes of Dragons, Glasgow and Scarlets where conditions have been tough recently, and have had four of the last five games in similar weather, and we handled them well tonight.”
The Blues are now two points off the play-off places in Conference A going into the second half of the season. All Connacht could muster was a late try from replacement lock Peter Boyle and a conversion from Conor Fitzgerald.