Blues Maintain Unbeaten Record

A stunning display at Kingsholm ensured the 14-man Blues recorded a famous and decisive victory that leaves them as the only side with a 100% record from the five games in this year’s Heineken Cup. Cardiff have now qualified from their Pool stages, with a home tie against Calvisano to come.

Cardiff Blues became the talk of European Rugby on Sunday, following their incredible 16-12 win at Kingsholm despite playing 53 minutes with 14 men!

The Welsh side were undoubtedly underdogs going into the Anglo-Welsh fixture, and when Tom James was sent off for a soft head butt on Azam, it looked as though Gloucester would begin to run a riot.

But they showed the belief, resilience and desire to keep the scores close come half time, and then remarkably took a 16-12 lead when replacement lock Bradley Davies crashed his way over from 5 yards out.

Gloucester took the lead with a well-struck penalty, but Leigh Halfpenny equalled the scores with one of his own. Barkley put the home side up after 25 minutes as the match ebbed and flowed from end to end, with both sides playing good, attacking rugby.

But with the match well balanced, the Blues received a huge blow when inexperienced winger James squared up to hooker Oliver Azam. The forward ran up to the 21 year old following the refs whistle for a penalty, and shoved the Welsh winger hard in the back, provoking a response.

James went nose-to-nose with Azam and was adjudged to have butted him after the hooker dived to the floor holding his head. Match official Allan Lewis duly showed the red card, leaving the visitors well and truly up against it.

But it obviously rallied the squad together, with 34 year old Gareth Thomas and 20 years old Leigh Halfpenny working doubly hard to try and cover the missing wing. The Blues played out the half without looking like conceding a try, although Barkley did extend their lead to 9-3 before the whistle.

Half Time

Gloucester 9 Cardiff Blues 3

Halfpenny, covering the injured Ben Blair at full back, opened the scoring in the second half, clipping the left hand upright as the ball snuck over to bring the Blues back into the match.

But they should have taken the lead moments later following some superb forward work and great offloading. Andy Powell made great inroads through the Cherry and Whites defence and it looked as though Jason Spice had just managed to place the ball on the try line. The referee awarded the try, but then changed his mind after pressure from the home side. Lewis went to the TMO, but despite no clear video of the incident, the try was disallowed.

They were hit with three further blows as Halfpenny missed successive penalties that would've seen the Blues level, and Barkley added to his own personal tally leaving the scores at 12-06.

But with 20 minutes to go, Halfpenny rediscovered his kicking boots to bring his side to within 3. But then, the unexpected happened. The 14-men Blues, who had looked excellent both in defence and attack, suddenly switched it on with 5 minutes to go, having already brought on a massive bench which included Xavier Rush, Bradley Davies, Rhys Thomas and Tao' Felise.

The big boys burst into life, with Rush in particular raising those around him to burst through tackles, and give every last drop with just minutes left. A long phase of play saw Cardiff take the ball into contact a number of times, making the hard yards every time, creeping closer to the line. Rush was involved twice in the build up, but it was Bradley Davies who made the final 5 metres, sidestepping the gate at the ruck and using all his massive frame to power over and give the Welsh side the lead for the first time.

But with 5 minutes to go, 2 points probably wouldn't be enough to win the match, something they learnt the hard way a week before in Leinster. So when Leigh Halfpenny stepped up to slot over the conversion, he must've been the coolest man in the 17,000 there. He struck the two extra points meaning Gloucester would have 4 minutes to find a try that hadn't looked like coming all match.

But Cardiff held out for a massive Heineken Cup victory, that all but ensures a home Quarter Final, having already qualified with a week to go. The 14-man region not only scored the sole try of the match, but kept a clean sheet at the back against a team renowned for their running rugby and ability to score tries.

Full Time

Gloucester 12 Cardiff Blues 16

theArmsPark.co.uk's Man of the Match - Maama Molitika

In truth, there could have been a number of players who could have claimed the MotM, with Jamie Roberts getting Sky's award, though Martyn Williams, Nick Robinson, Andy Powell and even Xavier Rush all deserved stand out recognition. But for me, Maama was the man. He ran hard, tackled hard and gave everything for 80 minutes, looking a danger right from start to finish. Molly made huge strides going forward and didn't miss a tackle, epitomising the entire XV and being a beacon of inspiration towards those tired bodies around him. Molly's got a year left after this, and he'll be a very hard man to replace.

After the match, Dai Young spoke of the incident involving Tom James saying,               

"It was a silly thing for Tom to do. It was more a defensive gesture than an aggressive one. He (Azam) went for the Hollywood, which is something we want to take out of the game. When I was playing, you didn't see hookers going down as quickly as that. We don't want to see players out there looking like soccer players."

However he had far more positive comments regarding the performance of the squad,

"We've built strong foundations. The team play for each other and have a real hard edge. We haven't achieved anything yet, but if we can go through to the quarter-finals unbeaten, it would be a huge a statement."