Blues overpower Dragons in Welsh derby

First-half tries from Josh Turnbull and Rey Lee-Lo set the Blues on their way at Cardiff Arms Park, despite a score from Sarel Pretorius.

And after opening up a lead in the first half, the Blues were able to soak up some pressure in the second to secure the win, with Gareth Anscombe providing the cherry on top with the last play of the game.

The Blues made a strong start, opening the scoring after just seven minutes. It came after a period of concerted pressure, with Turnbull eventually showing his power to crash over from close range.

Anscombe missed the conversion but made up for it soon after with a penalty to stretch the lead to 8-0.

The Dragons should have hit back but Hallam Amos failed to give when there was a two-man overlap and the chance went begging.

They got on the scoreboard midway through the half by Dorian Jones but on the hour Anscombe had his second penalty of the half.

Trailing 3-11, the Dragons needed a response, and they got it from the ever-dangerous Pretorius. The scrumhalf

took advantage of good work from his forwards to snipe over although Jones couldn't convert.

But he went from hero to villain soon after when he was penalised for an intentional knock-on, and sent to the sin-bin for his troubles.

In his absence the Blues pounced, with a clever little chip from Anscombe falling perfectly into the hands of Lee-Lo to go under the posts. Anscombe converted to make it 18-8 at the break.

The Dragons had also been dealt a major blow when Taulupe Faletau took a knock to the face and was forced off, but he returned early in the second half.

Still, with an extra man, the Blues were looking to drive home their advantage and twice came close. First a loose pass blew a massive overlap, before Tom James could not collect after quick hands following an Anscombe break.

The flyhalf did stretch the lead to 13 soon after though, when the Dragons scrum was put under pressure.

And they could have moved even further clear after another dangerous attack, but on this occasion Sam Warburton's kick over the top was too deep and bounced harmlessly away.

The game seemed to be getting away from the Dragons but they responded well with a kick through that Pretorius was fastest onto. He couldn't quite go all the way though and the Blues were able to get the ball back after it was held up in a maul.

The Dragons had their chances, but handling errors were proving costly, none more so than from Lewis Evans after a fine break down the left from Adam Hughes, released by Faletau.

With the Blues dominating the scrum battle, they were able to clear their lines and hold the Dragons at bay as they started to get more of the ball.

And the Blues back row was able to cause their visitors a lot of problems, Warburton, Ellis Jenkins and Turnbull putting on the pressure at ruck-time.

But having held out for so long, the Blues blew a chance for a try with six minutes remaining when Jenkins knocked on having collected the ball on the left, failing to control the ball as he stretched for the line.

The Dragons gave it their all to try to at least come away with a losing bonus point, but after a turnover a stunning counter-attack ended with Anscombe spotting a gap, sprinting through and gleefully diving under the posts. He converted from in front to round off the win.

The scorers:

For Cardiff Blues:

Tries: Turnbull, Lee-Lo, Anscombe

Cons: Anscombe 2

Pens: Anscombe 3

For Dragons:

Try: Pretorius

Pen: Jones

Teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Rhys Patchell, 14 Dan Fish, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Turnbull, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Ellis Jenkins, 5 James Down, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Taufa’ao Filise, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).

Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Manoa Vosawai, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Harri Millard, 23 Aled Summerhill.

Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dorian Jones, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Lewis Evans (captain), 5 Nick Crosswell, 4 Rynard Landman, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Phil Price.

Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Ed Jackson, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Angus O'Brien, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones.

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Assistant Referees: Leighton Hodges (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)

TMO: Gareth Simmonds (WRU)

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