What a night!
What a night!
By Andrew Collins
December 24 2006
What a game, what an atmosphere, and most importantly, what a result!
Skill, passion and pride were on display in both sets of teams as The Blues and the Ospreys presented a perfect advert for Celtic, and Welsh rugby.
A sell out crowd packed into the
The opening 40 minutes were all about the home side, who scored 3 tries in a 27-9 hammering at half time. But never has the cliché been truer, this game was a game of two halves, with the visitors battling a very close come back, as Mike Phillips was sin binned and Martyn Williams saw red. But the 13 held on for a famous victory, that is right up there with the best of them.
It all started 7 minutes in following a series of end-to-end attacks, Nick Robinson read the game, and Justin Marshall’s pass, intercepting to score from 35 metres. Blair converted, the first two of his total 25 point haul for the evening.
And just minutes later Blair followed him over after Jamie Robinson’s perfect pop-pass. The centre flicked the ball out to the Kiwi in the tackle, leaving a simple finish for the latter, to again convert.
But his second was much harder. Just as it looked like the O’s were getting themselves into the match, Shane William’s grubber kick was collected by Blair, who hugged the touchline for 60 metres before just out pacing Steffan Terblanche to score right in the very corner. And to complete a magnificent hat-trick of kicks, another conversion sailed over, in what was a 100% match from the boot.
And Cardiff almost bagged themselves a 4th try bonus point in the first half, following am inspiring 40 metre break from Mike Phillips. Not in free space, or a gap, but just running through men, handing and shrugging off everything he possibly could. The result was Jamie Robinson being kept out just inches from the line, but some real gritty defending from the O’s saved them from a real mauling.
The Ospreys were hanging on however, with Henson, who had a poor game at 10, kept them in touch with 3 successful penalties before the break, though Ben Blair managed 2 himself.
But as the sides ran in, the deafening noise from the home crowd continued, as it had all through the first half, the echo of ‘
Half Time
But whatever Lyn Jones said to his men during the interval paid massive dividends as they came out fighting in an attempt to turn over the 18-point deficit.
They threw everything at
However, the try did come eventually, when Tongan number 8, Filo Tiatia, bshed his way through Gary Powell to score a well converted try.
But the crowd didn’t revert into themselves, it proved merely to stir them further as the noise inside the
Ian Evans completed a very well worked try with 20 minutes left, as a remarkable comeback looked on the cards. With not a point scored in the second half for Dai’s boys, the gap was closed to just 6, as Henson’s conversion took the scores to 27-21.
But when Blair was offered a chance to put the Ospreys back outside the 7 point margin, he stepped up to slot over his third penalty of the night.
Henson matched Blair with a kick of his own, before it all kicked off with 5 minutes left.
As the game became heated, and tempers started to boil, Mike Phillip’s went after a bit of revenge on Ospreys hooker Barry Williams. The former producing a very dangerous spear tackle dropping the
Much like Gary Powell before him, Martyn Williams completely lost his cool with replacement scrum half Jason Spice. He was pushed by the kiwi, but reacted in an uncharacteristic fashion by grappling him, and actually head-butting him, right infront of the touch judge.
Both incidents were so cinical that not a fan would’ve argued if both had been given red cards, but Phillp’s survived the threat of a ban, though both players missed the final 5 minutes, when the scores with back within 6.
But The Ospreys just couldn’t quite find that last bit extra they needed, and
Full Time
theArmsPark.co.uk’s man of the match – Bradley Davies
A little harsh on Ben Blair perhaps, but the 21 year old second row worked his arse off today. He was presented with a big challenge against Ian Evans and Alun Wyn-Jones, but was more than equal to them in both the set pieces and the loose. Brad has been over shadowed by lock partner Deiniol Jones in recent weeks, but his outstanding performance, and 110% effort made him stand out in a team of excellent displays. His match was summed up just before his substitution when he told Dai Young, ‘I’ve got nothing left.’ Simply brilliant.
Cardiff Blues
Nick Macleod 7, Ben Blair 9, Jamie Robinson 8, Tom Shanklin 6, Chris Czekaj 7; Nick Robinson 8, Mike Phillips 8; Gethin Jenkins 8, T Rhys Thomas 8, Gary Powell 7, Bradley Davies 10, Deiniol Jones 8, Scott Morgan 8, Martyn Williams 8, Xavier Rush 8 (capt).