It's all square at Arms Park
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:08
Defending champions Leinster held on for a valuable 16-all draw against Cardiff Blues in the final match of the opening weekend of the Magners League at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday.
A Ben Blair penalty squared matters up with 12 minutes to go, after an Isa Nacewa try - converted by Felipe Contepomi - five minutes earlier had put the Irish province in the lead.
Despite the recent wet weather in the United Kingdom and Ireland, it was dry night in Cardiff.
The Blues did well early on, driving forward after winning clean ball at the line-out. They looked lively in attack and used Jamie Roberts to good effect in the centre.
However, frustratingly the ball was being spilled in contact. There was also some careless passing not going to hand and the Blues were putting pressure on themselves.
With allround solid defensive efforts from both teams, as the two full-strength sides cancelled each other out, the rival kickers had the biggest impact on the contest.
Contepomi opened the scoring with a 10th-minute penalty, giving the defending champions an early lead.
It was an entertaining match and Brian O'Driscoll showed his brilliance throwing a dummy and leaving the Blues midfield for dead. However, Blair put in a solid tackle and pulled the Irish and Lions star down.
One of the Blues' own Lions, Martyn Williams, emerged from the ruck with the ball and put in a long hack ahead - which gave Nicky Robinson a foot race for the ball into the goal area against three Leinstermen. He failed to win the race but did well to drive the recovering defender back over the try line before Leinster cleared.
Blair, who had missed an opportunity to draw level earlier, put the Blues into the lead with his team's only try in the 25th minute.
It all started with a line-out, as the Blues worked their way under the posts. They were awarded a scrum and great work from the forwards saw the ball come out to the right, where Ben Blair sprinted over to touch down in the corner.
Blair also added the conversion, before being replaced by Jamie Robinson 10 minutes later - as the fullback left for the blood bin.
The Blues had the final word of the first half when flyhalf Nick Robinson, playing in his 100th game for the team, struck a sweetly timed drop-goal over to give the Blues a seven-point half-time lead - 10-3.
Blair returned to the field straight after the half-time break and missed a penalty shot at goal five minutes later.
Contepomi slotted a 49th minute penalty and Robinson kicked another drop-goal six minutes later as the gap stayed at seven points - 13-6.
Contepomi kicked his third penalty as the game approached the final quarter, with Nacewa getting his try in the 63rd minute. It came when an up and under bounced off Richard Mustoe into the hands of Malcolm O’Kelly. He did well to pass out to the new recruit, Nacewa, who sprinted in for the try on his full debut.
Contepomi added the conversion as the visitors took the lead.
But that advantage lasted just five minutes, before Blair secured the draw.
The scorers:
For Cardiff Blues:
Try: Blair
Con: Blair
Pen: Blair
DGs: N Robinson 2
For Leinster:
Try: Nacewa
Con: Contepomi
Pens: Contepomi 3
The Teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Jason Spice, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Mamma Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Gary Powell, 17 T. Rhys Thomas, 18 Scott Morgan, 19 Ben White, 20 Darren
Allinson, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Jamie Robinson.
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Rob Kearney, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Chris Whitaker (captain), 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Cameron Jowitt, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Ronan McCormack, 2 Bernard Jackman, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 John Fogarty, 17 Stephen Knoop, 18 Trevor Hogan, 19 Sean O'Brien, 20 Chris Keane, 21 Luke Fitzgerald, 22 Girvan Dempsey.
Referee: Andy Macpherson (Scotland)
Touch Judges: David Bodilly (Wales), Jon Mason (Wales)
TMO: Tony Rowlands (Wales)
