Cardiff 'outclassed' by ruthless champs
Cardiff Blues head coach Gareth Baber admitted his side were ‘outclassed’ by champions Leinster who handed them a crushing 34-3 defeat in their European Cup quarterfinal on Saturday.
Baber conceded that Cardiff had little response to an emphatic display from the cup holders at the Aviva Stadium.
He said: “Leinster are a smart and physical side who were better at creating and managing pressure. At half-time we wanted to restore some pride but in the end we were outclassed.”
Cardiff were hit by a string of injuries ahead of this tie, including the loss of Jamie Roberts and Sam Warburton, and the weaknesses told.
Leigh Halfpenny handed them a second-minute lead but Leinster struck back through Rob Kearney, twice, Isa Nacewa and Brian O’Driscoll as well as 14 points from the boot of Jonathan Sexton.
Cardiff captain Xavier Rush said: “Reaching the last eight in Europe is an achievement in itself but we wanted to impose ourselves more than we did. We were beaten by a better team, there’s no other way around it.
“We couldn’t get any rhythm to our game in the first half. Leinster put us under a lot of pressure and we couldn’t put any back,” he explained.
