by Dylan James
In a game stricken with injuries and disjointed play, the Blues showed once again that they have the mental resolve to win ugly.
The opening ten minutes were dominated by loose play, and more specifically, very poor handling on the Scarlets line out, with Sam Lousi and Jake Ball struggling to pluck the ball from the air. This really set the tone for the Scarlets.
Jarrod Evans may need to get a patent for the ‘delayed pass’, as he performed another one exceptionally for the Blues’ opening score. Tomos Williams fizzed a pass into Evans, who expertly drew the West Walian defensive line forward with a magnificent piece of trickery, opening a perfect gap to put Matthew Morgan through on 15 minutes. Evans added the extras.
It was all Blues for next 15 minutes as they encroached upon the Scarlets try line once more. However, after playing to the referee’s advantage, Jarrod Evans opted to go for the posts, much to the delight of the newly appointed ‘Director of Rugby’ Dai Young, who the cameraman found as Evans made it 0-10 to the visitors.
The Scarlets were void of any conviction in attack during the opening 40, as the Blues grew more and more confident they could do the double over the Llanelli outfit.
However, the Scarlets went into the second period with real desire and held the ball well in the opening ten, before being awarded a penalty. Leigh Halfpenny, with a 93% kicking success rate this season, made no mistake from the tee. 3-10.
There was a ten minute period which saw very stop-start play, with Wyn Jones and Sione Kalamafoni leaving the field through injury, only adding to the woes of the Scarlets, who are already without Aaron Shingler, James Davies and Rhys Patchell. Uzair Cassiem and Phil Price replaced them. Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams was also forced off the field through injury, with international resurgent Lloyd Williams taking his place.
The ever faithful 34-year-old Ken Owens also took to the field, returning from an injury sustained in Glasgow in October. Another Welshman included in Pivac’s 36-man squad, Josh Navidi, made way for Alun Lawrence, as Dillon Lewis and Rhys Carre joined him on the field for the Blues.
The Blues extended their lead on 57 minutes through the trusty boot of Jarrod Evans, who secured the Blues a ten point lead once again.
Replacement Angus O’Brien seemed to have secured the home side their first try of the game, after a quality cross-field punt from Dan Jones. However, after review from the TMO and referee Adam Jones, Johnny McNicholl was found to have pushed Blues full back Matthew Morgan, preventing him from contesting for the high ball. The decision was over ruled and play went back to a Scarlets penalty, which they were unable to make an impact with.
However, some ingenuity from Scarlets replacement centre Steff Hughes ensured they did make that impact. Dan Jones drew some Blues players into contact, putting Hughes into some newfound space, allowing him to execute a cross-fielder into the hands of blindside Blade Thomson, who crossed into the corner. Halfpenny somehow managed to secure the extra two from an extremely wide position. 10-13.
It was all Blues in the closing minutes, and the frustration of the Scarlets was epitomised by Kieran Hardy’s dismissal on 79 minutes. Jarrod Evans knocked the ball out of play to secure another win for the Cardiff outfit, as they secured the double over their regional compatriots.
With the Six Nations on the horizon, Wales boss Wayne Pivac will have plenty to dwell upon after tonight’s fixture, both in terms of injury worries and player selection.
TEAMS:
Scarlets: Leigh Halfpenny; Johnny McNicholl, Jonathan Davies (capt), Johnny Williams, Steff Evans; Dan Jones, Gareth Davies; Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias, Javan Sebastian, Jake Ball, Sam Lousi, Blade Thomson, Ed Kennedy, Sione Kalamafoni.
Replacements: Ken Owens, Phil Price, Werner Kruger, Tevita Ratuva, Uzair Cassiem, Kieran Hardy, Angus O’Brien, Steff Hughes.
Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan; Josh Adams, Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo, Hallam Amos; Jarrod Evans, Tomos Williams; Corey Domachowski, Liam Belcher, Dmitri Arhip, Seb Davies, Cory Hill (capt), Josh Turnbull, James Botham, Alun Lawrence.
Replacements: Kristian Dacey, Rhys Carré, Dillon Lewis, Rory Thornton, Josh Navidi, Lloyd Williams, Ben Thomas, Aled Summerhill.
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Ben Whitehouse (both WRU)
TMO: Ian Davies (WRU).
