Tom James scores two tries to clinch win at Musgrave Park.
Munster 17 Cardiff Blues 19
Friday 5 October 7.30pm kick off, Musgrave Park, Magners League
The opening minutes of the match were evenly balanced with both teams kicking for territory until Richie Rees took a quick penalty and Munster failed retreat 10 metres. It made the kick easier for Robinson who slotted it between the posts.
Minutes later an up n under by Nick Robinson was dropped by Shaun Payne under pressure by Jamie Robinson, and Tom James was on hand to hack through and touch down on the left. Robinson missed with the conversion but Warwick also missed two kickable chances for the home team.
There was more attacking play form the Blues when Nicky Robinson put in a neat chip that Jamie Roberts gathered and the Blues eventually worked there way left where Richie Rees put in another chip to beat the Munster defence. However the Irishmen succeeded in gathering and cleared the ball.
The Blues soon added to the score when Munster drifted offside and Robinson stepped up to kick between posts from a similar position to his first effort.
An overthrow in the Blues line out saw the Munster men collect the ball and drive forward before eventually being awarded a penalty that Warwick again missed. However, he made amends when Jamie Robinson was harshly judged to have held on to the ball on the floor after collecting an up n under.
A Munster line out on 5 metres out saw them driving over the try-line through Mark Melbourne. Warwick succeeded with the conversion to keep Munster in the game.
HALF TIME MUNSTER 10 CARDIFF BLUES 11
The Blues got off to a great start in the second half when from broken play they managed to spread the ball crisply through the backs to the left wing, where Ben Blair put in a perfectly timed pass for Tom James to sprint in for his second. Robinson converted
However Munster struck back when they worked their way up to the Blues twenty two and were awarded a scrum 5 metres out from the Cardiff Blues try-line. After taking a quick penalty they eventually managed to cross the try line with Niall Ronan scoring and Warwick adding the conversion,
The score meant that it would be a nerve racking ending but Richie Rees looked as if he had sealed the win when, from a ruck in his own half, he broke all the way down the left wing and scored in the corner only for the linesman to disallow the try for foul play in the ruck.
Munster attacked once again but the Blues defence was solid and they had done enough to get the win that keeps them at the top of the Magners League table.
Cardiff Blues 15 Ben Blair 14 Jamie Roberts 13 Jamie Robinson 12 Dafydd Hewitt 11 Tom James 10 Nick Robinson 9 Richie Rees 8 Xavier Rush (c) 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor 6 Scott Morgan 5 Robert Sidoli 4 Bradley Davies 3 Gary Powell 2 Gareth Williams 1 John Yapp 16 Scott Roberts 17 Ross Johnson 18 Deiniol Jones 19 Ben White 20 Jason Spice 21 Nick Macleod 22 Rhys Williams
Munster: 15 Shaun Payne; 14 Ian Dowling 13 Kieran Lewis 12 Rua Tipoki 11 Anthony Horgan; 10 Paul Warwick 9 Tomas O'Leary 8 Anthony Foley capt
7 Niall Ronan 6 James Coughlan 5 Mick O'Driscoll 4 Mark Melbourne 3 Tony Buckley 2 Denis Fogarty 1 Federico Pucciariello 16 Frank Sheahan 17 Darragh Hurely 18 Alan Quinlan 19 Billy Holland 20 Gerry Hurley 21 Jeremy Manning 22 Lifeimi Mafi.
SCORERS:
CARDIFF BLUES MUNSTER
TRIES T. James x 2 Mark Melbourne x 1
Niall Ronan
PENALTIES Robinson x 3 Warwick x 1
CONVERSIONS Warwick x 1
DROP GOALS