Cardiff take the points in an exciting match at Meggetland
Meggetland was, once more, the venue for the latest round of the RaboDirect PRO12 League as Murrayfield goes through its transition to a hybrid pitch. Cardiff Blues were the visitors and, in a closely fought encounter, they took a narrow win over the home side in a match which also saw the return of Tim Visser after his lengthy lay-off with a broken leg.
Cardiff were first on the scoreboard with an early penalty from Gareth Davies, but Edinburgh’s Jack Cuthbert drew the sides level a couple of minutes later to bring a 3-3 scoreline just before the five minute mark. However, Edinburgh were to score the opening try. Winning lineout ball in the opposition half, quick recycle from a tackle on Gilchrist put Matt Scott through a hole in the defence (top) to touch down near the posts. Cuthbert stepped up for his second shot at goal and, on what was to be a fine night for the kickers, put the ball through to take Edinburgh into a 10-3 lead with about 10 minutes played.
It took Cardiff only 10 minutes to match the home side with a try in the right corner, following an overlap which got round the outside of the Edinburgh defence to put centre, Cory Allen over the line for the score. Davies then scored with the difficult conversion to draw the sides level at 10-10.
Cardiff were then soon on the points trail again. With another 10 minutes of play – which saw both sides creating chances – sustained pressure on the Edinburgh line told when Filo Paulo was ushered over to score Cardiff’s second try. Davies was once again accurate with the boot and the visitors were now 17-10 to the good. The remainder of the half saw no more scoring, so the players went into the break with Cardiff holding on to that seven point lead.
A lead which they extended after two minutes of the second half with another fine try down the left hand side of the pitch which saw full-back, Dan Fish over for the third Cardiff try on the night. With Davies again proving successful with a very difficult kick, Cardiff were now 24-10 ahead. Once again, Edinburgh launched a quick repost and forced the visitors back into their 22. With bodies flying in from all angles, the defence was soon overrun and wing, Tom Brown was the man in possession when they went over in the corner for Edinburgh’s second try. Cuthbert matched Davies with a fine conversion from near the touchline to bring the hosts to within a seven point margin at 24-17.
The next 25 minutes of the match were to prove scoreless, with Cardiff possibly just shading the possession and territory stats, but Edinburgh more than holding their own. Until five minutes from time, at least. With Edinburgh desperately defending their line, substitute wing, Dafydd Hewitt broke through for Cardiff’s fourth, and bonus point, try. This time Davies put his kick wide, but the gap had increased to 12 points at 29-17.
Not to be outdone, Edinburgh spent the final few minutes hammering away at the visitors’ line and the pressure eventually told as Cornell Du Preez was forced over the line in the corner, with a bit of ‘help’ from Visser, in the eightieth minute. In the absence of any video help, the referee had to turn to one of his assistants to confirm the score. Now 29-22, Cuthbert hit the bar with his conversion attempt to round off the match with the win going to Cardiff and Edinburgh having to settle for a losing bonus point.
It was a bonus point which put Edinburgh into seventh place in the table, being level on points with Connacht before the match. A heavy defeat for Connacht to Ulster helped the cause and the home side are now in a better position to qualify for the new European Rugby Champions Cup, the details of which can be pondered over here. Good luck……
Images from the match will be uploaded to here over the next few days.
