Cardiff give Edinburgh the Blues
Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:51
Wingers Tom James (2) and Jamie Roberts shared out Cardiff's tries at Murrayfield on Friday, as the Welsh region ended Edinburgh's hopes of remaining in the Magners League title race by beating them 20-0.
It was a depressing day for a lacklustre Edinburgh side, who were repeatedly penalised by referee Alan Lewis.
Edinburgh's performance was littered with mistakes and the alarmingly high error count has meant the home side were unable to translate possession into points.
On more than one occasion, Edinburgh gained territory only to lose momentum inside Cardiff's 22 and generally looked indecisive and lethargic when offered try-scoring opportunities.
It was well and truly an off-key performance on an off day for Edinburgh in an otherwise enterprising and progressive season.
To heighten Edinburgh's misery Phil Godman missed a penalty to sum up a forgettable game.
The Scottish side withstood pressure from the Cardiff visitors until Ben Blair's penalty after 19 minutes.
But James then went over for a try, converted by Blair, and fellow winger Jamie Roberts went over the tryline a second time before the break.
Second-half home pressure failed to produce points and James added a second try.
So ended Edinburgh's outside hopes of becoming the first Scottish team to win the Magners League title.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
None
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: James 2, Roberts
Con: Blair
Pen: Blair
Edinburgh: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 John Houston, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Callam, 7 Allister Hogg (captain), 6 Simon Cross, 5 Craig Hamilton, 4 Matt Mustchin, 3 Craig Smith, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements: 16 Steve Lawrie, 17 Augusto Allori,
18 Fergus Pringle, 19 Ben Gissing, 20 Ben Meyer, 21 Calum MacRae, 22 Andrew Turnbull.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Jamie Roberts, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gareth Thomas, 11 Tom James, 10 Dai Flannigan, 9 Jason Spice, 8 Xavier Rush (captain), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Mamma Molitika, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 John Yapp, 17 T Rhys Thomas, 18 Scott Morgan, 19 Ben White, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Marc Stcherbina.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges: Rob Dickson (Scotland), John Ferns (Scotland)
