Alex Cuthbert: Hat-trick of tries
Wales international Alex Cuthbert scored a hat-trick of tries as the Cardiff Blues thumped Edinburgh 38-13 at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Although Phil Godman opened the scoring for the visitors, tries by Lloyd Williams and Cuthbert gave them a comfortable 12-3 half-time lead.
Godman added a drop-goal in the second period before further scores from Cuthbert (twice), Luke Hamilton and Josh Navidi sealed the five points, despite a late Harry Leonard touchdown for the visitors.
With nothing to play for in the league and a Heineken Cup semi-final against Ulster next week, the Scottish outfit decided to rest the likes of Ross Ford, David Denton and Tim Visser, as well as other key first choice players.
Edinburgh took a surprise lead through the boot of Godman, but Cardiff, who are also out of the play-off picture, hit back after 18 minutes.
Good work from Casey Laulala got the hosts to within inches of the line before Williams touched down from close range. Blair converted as they started to dominate a weakened Edinburgh side.
It was therefore no surprise to see the Blues go over just before the break through Cuthbert. With their first foray into the Cardiff half in the second period, Godman scored a long-range drop-goal to reduce the deficit to six points.
But, after John Houston had been sin-binned for the Gunners, the hosts' right-wing displayed his pace and power to shrug off the attentions of two tacklers and scamper clear.
Hamilton powered across the whitewash for the bonus-point before Cuthbert touched down for his hat-trick. Blair added the extras to both tries as the Blues opened up an unassailable 31-6 advantage.
Edinburgh's Leonard then went over for a consolation score. However, Navidi crossed the whitewash for Cardiff, Blair converting, to complete the rout.
Cardiff Blues:15 Ben Blair, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Luke Hamilton, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Marc Breeze, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 John Yapp, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Dan Parks, 23 Gavin Evans
Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Sep Visser, 13 James King, 12 John Houston, 11 Jim Thompson, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Alex Black, 8 Roddy Grant (c), 7 Struan Dewar, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Steven Turnbull, 4 Robert McAlpine, 3 Jack Gilding, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Murray Douglas, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Harry Leonard, 23 Dougie Fife.
Referee: Dudley Phillips
Comments
melkdave says...
Well you cant blame Edinburgh for resting players before the biggest game in their history .But i do feel it happens way to often in the Pro12 .The irish stars are very rarley seen ,and depending on the 1st round of HC games the same can now be said of the scottish and welsh players .Teams need motavation ,something to play for and a goal imo .So teams want to feild their best sides(pooibly) throught the season .Heineken cup qualification on merit rather than national lines would be a start ,but only a start..May the league needs relegation as well with atm the weakest welsh and irish regions being dropped ,then the following year the top irish /welsh premership sides playing a round robin playoff against the bottom placed Pro12 team for inclusion in 2014 .But i dont see any of this being implemented ,to much national interest at stake imo .The SRU wouldnt be favour and im pretty sure the IRFU wouldnt be either ,after all the present system works for them
Posted 12:02 28th April 2012
jontheref says...
Have to say, I complain about referees lack of consistency..
Well, Dudley Phillips WAS consistent.
Let's hope he can do that at a higher level.
Maybe a playoff game, if Glasgow get to 3rd.
Either O's v Glasgow, or Leinster Munster.
Posted 15:29 24th April 2012