Blues' Blair shines in Italian affair
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:08
Cardiff Blues No.15 Ben Blair made a healthy 21-point contribution on Saturday to his side's 56-20 eight-try Heineken Cup victory over Calvisano on Saturday.
The bonus-point victory has given Dai Young's team the best possible start to this season's tournament, with big games against Gloucester and Biarritz to follow.
Blues No.6 Maama Molitika opened the scoring for the visitors with an early try, which Blair wasn't able to convert. The Italians responded soon after with a Gerard Fraser penalty to take the scores to 3-5.
The former All Black and Crusaders fullback however redeemed himself and began his points haul with an early penalty, thereafter converting a penalty try, taking the score to 15-3 for the Blues.
Calvisano lock Justin Purll saw the beginnings of a fightback with a try, converted by Gerard Fraser, while Fraser and Blair both slotted late first-half penalties to take the half-time score to a competitive 18-13.
Any dreams the hosts may have had of causing an upset against the Welsh greats were shattered in the second half, as the Blues came out firing with a plethora of tries, including one from Wales centre pairing Thomas Shanklin and Jamie Robinson respectively.
Blair scored one for himself and added four conversions. Six Nations hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini dotted down for the hosts as consolation, but it was a day for the rampant Blues at Centro Sportivo San Michele.
Scorers:
For Calvisano:
Tries: Purll, Ghiraldini
Cons: Fraser, Raineri
Pens: Fraser, Griffen
For Cardiff:
Tries: Molitika, penalty try, Spice, Shanklin, Blair, Robinson, Halfpenny, Thomas
Cons: Blair 5
Pens: Blair 2
Teams:
Calvisano: TBC
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Lee Halfpenny, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Tom Shanklin, 11 Gareth Thomas, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Jason Spice, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Gary Powell, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Faao Filise, 17 Gareth Williams, 18 Scott Morgan, 19 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Jamie Roberts.
Referee: Rob Debney (England)
Touch judges: Tim Wigglesworth (England), Alan Biggs (England)
TMO: Dave Matthews (England)
