Cuthbert is Blues' hat-trick hero
Alex Cuthbert showed his worth to the Cardiff Blues cause with a superb hat-trick to help down Edinburgh 38-13 in what might yet prove to be his final game at the Cardiff City Stadium.
With the Blues working under a reduced budget next season 12 players have announced their departure from the Pro 12 side but with Cuthbert’s future still up in the air he and his teammates signed off their final home game of the campaign in style with a resounding win over their under-strength opponents.
Edinburgh, now with just one win in 11 Pro 12 matches, were blown away by Welsh international Cuthbert and he was joined on the scoresheet by Lloyd Williams, Luke Hamilton and Josh Navidi.
The Gunners had one eye on their historic Heineken Cup semifinal against Ulster next Saturday and Michael Bradley took the opportunity to rest a number of his players.
Meanwhile in Sunday’s other match wing DTH van der Merwe dived over for a late try to spare Glasgow Warriors’ blushes and seal a 13-8 win against Treviso that leaves them needing only a draw against Connacht in the final round of fixtures to make the Pro 12 playoffs.
Treviso looked to have won a match they dominated when Kris Burton struck a penalty with only five minutes remaining but van der Merwe, in his first game of the season for Glasgow, took a short pass off scrumhalf Henry Pyrgos and burst through one tackler before handing off Brendan Williams to cross the line.
We look at Sunday’s matches!
Cardiff Blues 38-13 Edinburgh
Scorers:
For Cardiff:
Tries: L.Williams, Hamilton, Navidi, Cuthbert 3
Cons: Blair 4
For Edinburgh:
Try: Leonard
Con: Leonard
Pen: Godman
DG: Godman
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Luke Hamilton, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Marc Breeze, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 John Yapp, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Dan Parks, 23 Gavin Evans
Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Sep Visser, 13 James King, 12 John Houston, 11 Jim Thompson, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Alex Black, 8 Roddy Grant (captain), 7 Struan Dewar, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Steven Turnbull, 4 Robert McAlpine, 3 Jack Gilding, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Murray Douglas, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Harry Leonard, 23 Dougie Fife.
Referee: Dudley Phillips
Treviso 8-131 Glasgow Warriors
Scorers:
For Treviso:
Try: Williams
Pen: Burton
For Glasgow:
Try: Van der Merwe
Con: Jackson
Pens: Weir 2
The teams:
Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Tommaso Iannone, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Colin Shaw, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 John Barclay, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock (captain), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Finlay Gillies, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Moray Low, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Johnnie Beattie, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 DTH van der Merwe.
Referee: Leighton Hodges
