On-fire Cardiff Blues crush Dragons
Cardiff Blues smashed the Newport Gwent Dragons 42-13 in Magners League action at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday – despite the visitors holding a commanding 13-3 half-time lead.
Tries from lock Bradley Davies, right-wing Richard Mustoe, scrumhalf Richie Rees, centre Tom Shanklin and left-wing Tom James put the Men from Cardiff in the driving seat as they crept up one spot on the Magners League table into seventh position.
Of course, in the process Cardiff also managed to keep the Dragons scoreless throughout the entire second half – no mean feat considering their superb start to the match.
Dragons winger Aled Brew scored his team’s only try of the night as the visitors led 13-3 at the break; that also after Cardiff hooker T Rhys Thomas was sin-binned in the first half.
Brew’s try, coupled with flyhalf James Arlidge’s boot – and a drop-goal from fullback Jason Tovey – had put the Dragons in control, but a strong start to the second half – thanks to Davies’ try and Ben Blair’s boot – saw the scores tied at 13-13 after just four minutes.
A 48th-minute Blair penalty, followed by a Richie Mustoe try some seven minutes later, saw the home team creep ahead and their final-quarter demolition – which produced three more tries – saw the Blues home comfortably in the end.
In all, former All Blacks No.15 Blair kicked four conversions and three penalty goals for a useful match-haul of 17 points, whilst Shanklin grabbed the all-important fourth – and bonus point – try in the 69th minute.
The Dragons, who suffered their fourth defeat of the season, are in sixth position on the Magners League table – just three points ahead of Cardiff.
The scorers:
For the Blues:
Tries: B Davies, Mustoe, R Rees, Shanklin, T James
Cons: Blair 4
Pens: Blair 3
For the Dragons:
Try: Brew
Con: Arlidge
Pen: Arlidge
DG: Tovey
Yellow card(s): T Rhys Thomas (Cardiff Blues, 24 minutes); Aled Brew (Newport Gwent Dragons, 66 minutes)
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Taufa’au Filise, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).
Replacements: 16 Gareth Williams, 17 Gary Powell, 18 Paul Tito, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Gareth Thomas.
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Jason Tovey, 14 Aled Brew, 13 Rhodri Gomer-Davies, 12 Tom Riley, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Danny Lee, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Hoani MacDonald, 3 Patrick Palmer, 2 Tom Willis (captain), 1 Hugh Gustafson.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Peter Bracken, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Grant Webb, 20 Will Harries, 21 Matthew Watkins, 22 Gareth Williams.
Referee: James Jones
Assistant referees: Hugh Watkins, Huw David
Television match official: Tony Rowlands
