Edinburgh exit on a high

Editor

Edinburgh finished their Magners League campaign off on Sunday with an outstanding 36-14 win over Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park.

Edinburgh finished their Magners League campaign off on Sunday with an outstanding 36-14 win over Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park.

Edinburgh thus secured second place in the Magners League with a second-half blitz which wrecked the Blues' farewell party at the Arms Park.

The final game of the season was given extra relevance as the region's last before moving to share the new Cardiff City Stadium a mile away, while the Blues were also waving goodbye to Jamie and Nicky Robinson, off to Gloucester and Toulon respectively, and it was appropriate that the brothers combined to give them the lead.

Centre Jamie snatched a loose Edinburgh pass on the Scottish 22 and sent Nicky under the posts to give Ben Blair an easy conversion.

Edinburgh hit back with a Chris Paterson penalty, but the Blues responded with a beautifully crafted try.

Winger Chris Czekaj, back in the Wales squad two years after an horrific injury in Australia, ran a superb angle to take Nicky Robinson's short pass, brush off a weak tackle and cross the line.

But in the second period everything changed, helped by Jamie Robinson's instinctive act to stick out a hand to knock the ball down as he retreated from an offside position.

Irish referee Simon McDowell awarded a penalty try and sin-binned the offender, leaving the Blues short of cover as Edinburgh centre Ben Cairns sped in for a second try to put them ahead.

The home side were still a man short when the Scots produced a fine flowing move to see the other centre, Nick de Luca, claim a third try in nine incredible minutes.

Even when the sinner returned, Edinburgh had not finished. Another thrilling passage of play was ended by fly-half Phil Godman touching down, while De Luca intercepted a careless pass to grab their fifth try.

With Paterson converting four, Edinburgh were able to celebrate their fourth win at this ground in their last five visits. The Scots too, must be regretting that they will not play at the Arms Park again.

The scorers:

For Cardiff Blues:
Tries:
Robinson, Czekaj
Cons: Blair 2

For Edinburgh:
Tries:
Penalty try, Cairns, De Luca 2, Godman
Cons: Paterson 4
Pen: Paterson

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Gareth Thomas, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Maama Molitika, 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor (capt), 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 John Yapp, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Sam Hobbs, 17 Ross Johnson, 18 James Down, 19 Ben White, 20 Richie Rees/Rhys Downs, 21 Dai Flanagan, 22 Ceri Sweeney.

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 John Houston, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Phil Godmam, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Craig Newlands, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Matt Mustchin, 18 Scott Macleod, 19 Ryan Grant, 20 Ben Meyer, 21 Hugo Southwell, 22 Andrew Turnbull.

Referee: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Touch judges: David Bodilly (Wales), Phil Connell (Wales)
Television match official: Huw Lewis (Wales)