Scarlets 24 Cardiff Blues 6
Saturday 20th April 2013 Parc y Scarlets
Rhys Patchell kicked off the final Welsh derby of the season at a sunny Parc y Scarlets. The Blues were on the front-foot during the opening exchanges, with Harry Robinson displaying his dangerous attacking abilities with a half break down the middle of the field.
The home side soon had their first attempt at goal, as the Blues were caught offside. Owen Williams’ 50 meter effort drifted just wide of the posts. The Scarlets continued to look dangerous in attack but the Blues defence held firm and they were shortly awarded for their efforts when they regained the ball after the Scarlets’ ruck was penalised.
It was the capital side that got the first points on the board, as Blues Full Back Leigh Halfpenny converted a penalty in front of the posts, after Phil John made a late tackle on Blues’ winger Owen Williams.
Both sides tried to gain territory with a series of kicks and a knock-on by Liam Williams saw the Blues awarded a scrum in midfield. However Lewis Jones couldn’t keep control of the ball at the rear of the scrum, enabling Aaron Shingler to hack the loose ball up field. The Blues’ Owen Williams recovered well to relief the Scarlets pressure and for the Blues to reform.
It was the home side that crossed the try line first, as Jonathan Davies beat his opposition number, Gavin Evans, to give his side the five points. Owen Williams got the conversion to securing his sides lead.
The Blues looked to hit back instantly and found themselves in the Scarlets’ 22 but a wayward pass from Harry Robinson allowed Jonathan Davies to kick the ball clear. A few phases later the Scarlets were awarded a second penalty from the half-way line, with Williams’ effort fell short of the posts.
A turn over by Michael Paterson’s gave the Blues another chance to attack from a dangerous position. Following a couple of phases, lock Lou Reed appeared to crash over the whitewash, but was held just short of line. The resulting scrum saw Scarlets defence penalised, allowing Halfpenny to convert his second penalty of the day.
After the Blues were penalised in the scrum enabling Owen Williams to add a further three points to the Scarlets’ tally on the stroke of half-time.
Half time Scarlets 10 Cardiff Blues 6
It was the Scarlets that looked dangerous straight from the restart, with winger George North making a powerful break in midfield, but the final pass couldn’t be gathered by the attacking support.
The Blues soon applied pressure on the Scarlets defence with a number of phases in the opposition’s half, with Rhys Patchell heavily involved in the attack. An Owen Williams clearance kick allowed Leigh Halfpenny and Harry Robinson to counter-attack, with the winger unlucky not to find himself crossing the try line after beating two defenders.
The Scarlets were awarded a free kick from the following scrum and they soon turned up the pace again. The pressure proved too much for the Blues’ defence as Jonathan Davies crashed over for his second try of the match. Owen Williams added a further two points from a touch-line conversion.
Jonathan Davies created further problems for the Blues when he made yet another dangerous break. Looking for the bonus point, the Scarlets opted to go for the touchline from a penalty deep in the Blues’ 22. The Blues managed to regained possession to ease the pressure.
Only moments later the Scarlets did cross the white wash for their third try, when Liam Williams broke clear of the Blues defence to touch down. Substitute Rhys Priestland extended their lead to 18 points with the conversion.
The final ten minute saw the Blues searching for a consolation try, while the Scarlets were still keen to get the bonus try; their efforts came to no avail as Nigel Owens blew the final whistle.
Cardiff Blues 15 Leigh Halfpenny (Off 65) 14 Owen Williams 13 Gavin Evans (c) 12 Jamie Roberts 11 Harry Robinson 10 Rhys Patchell 9 Lewis Jones (Off 53)
8 Michael Paterson 7 Sam Warburton 6 Josh Navidi 5 Lou Reed 4 Filo Paulo (B Davies 53) 3 Scott Andrews (Off 71) 2 Kristian Dacey (Off 65) 1Taufa’ao Filise (Off 71)
16 Marc Breeze(64On) 17 Thomas Davies(70 On) 18 Benoit Bourrust(70On) 19 Bradley Davies(53On) 20 Luke Hamilton 21 Alex Walker(53On) 22 Ceri Sweeney(53on) 23 Dafydd Hewitt
Scarlets 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Aled Davies, 1 Phil John, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Jacobie Adriannse, 4 George Earle, 5 Johan Synman, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Josh Turnbull, 8 Rob McCusker (capt).
16 Matthew Rees 17 Rhodri Jones 18 Samson Lee 19 Jake Ball 20 Sione Timani 21 Gareth Davies 22 Rhys Priestland 23 Gareth Maule.
Scarlets
Tries J. Davies x2 L Williams x1
Con O. Williams x1 R Priestland x2
Pen O. Williams x1
D/G
Cardiff Blues
Tries
Con
Pen L.Halfpenny x2
D/G
Attendance 10, 426
Yellow Cards