Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors, 15 February

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Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors

15 February 2014
The Arms Park, Cardiff
KO: 6.30pm.

Live on S4C/BBC ALBA

Referee: George Clancy (IRFU, 58th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell, Martyn Lewis (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner: Richard Gwynn (WRU)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (WRU)

A. Previous Meetings

13/12/13 Glasgow Warriors 7 - 9 Cardiff Blues  
6/12/13 Cardiff Blues 29 - 20 Glasgow Warriors  
6/9/13 Glasgow Warriors 22 - 15 Cardiff Blues

B. Form:

1	Munster	13	11	0	2	323	201	4	48
2	Leinster	13	9	1	3	294	203	7	45
3	Ulster	13	9	0	4	254	177	5	41
4	Ospreys	13	8	1	4	300	226	6	40
5	Glasgow	11	9	0	2	177	148	1	37
6	Scarlets	13	5	1	7	240	259	6	28
7	NG Dragons	12	5	0	7	209	210	4	24
8	Edinburgh	11	5	0	6	202	255	2	22
9	Cardiff Blues	13	4	1	8	253	328	4	22

C. Teams:

1. Blues
15 Dan Fish
14 Richard Smith
13 Isaia Tuifua
12 Dafydd Hewitt
11 Harry Robinson
10 Simon Humberstone

9 Lloyd Williams
1 Gethin Jenkins (c)
2 Kristian Dacey
3 Scott Andrews
4 Macauley Cook
5 Filo Paulo
6 Ellis Jenkins
7 Sam Warburton
8 Robin Copeland

Replacements:
16 Rhys Williams,
17 Sam Hobbs,
18 Patrick Palmer,
19 James Down,
20 Rory Watts-Jones,
21 Lewis Jones,
22 Gareth Davies,
23 Tom Williams

2. Warriors
15. Niko Matawalu
14. Lee Jones
13. Richie Vernon
12. Mark Bennett
11. Rory Hughes
10. Ruaridh Jackson
9. Henry Pyrgos

1. Gordon Reid
2. Pat MacArthur
3. Ed Kalman
4. Leone Nakarawa
5. Tom Ryder
6. Rob Harley
7. Tyrone Holmes
8. Josh Strauss (Captain)

Substitutes

16. Dougie Hall
17. Jerry Yanuyanutawa
18. Jon Welsh
19. Jonny Gray
20. James Eddie
21. Chris Cusiter
22. Finn Russell
23. Folau Niua

Match Preview:

Cardiff Blues only victory in their last six RaboDirect PRO12 fixtures was 21-13 at home to the Dragons on New Year's Day.

The Blues have won their last three fixtures against Scottish opponents in all tournaments.
Glasgow Warriors have won their last three matches in the PRO12 since their 8-23 home defeat by the Dragons on 22 November.

The Warriors have won all six away games thy have played in the tournament this season.

The Blues have won both their recent meetings with the Warriors, home and away in the European Cup in December; however in the PRO12 it is a different story with Glasgow taking the last fire encounters since their 15-26 defeat at Firhill in February 2011.

Great win for Glasgow. Well deserved.

So a Lee Jones try, one for the   coming from Richie outside centre Vernon. What a game!

Loved Vernons handoff and he also made a couple of turnovers as well as giving a try scoring pass.

Blues, what are you doing! Still, good for us... But still don't like to see a home side lose.

Yesssssss The Warriors     

A few more losses like that from Cardiff and the attendances will be even worse than what it was tonight

If the blues were a football team Phil Davies would have gone a long time ago, they are going backwards like the U20, s and Scarlets before them.

Vernon looked quite tidy tonight. A season or two at O/S and he might sneak into Bennett's slot at 13.
Too many over anxious offloads which didn't go to hand. A little more composure and Glasgow would have really racked up a score there.
Russell needs game time Jaxkson is clearly not the answer even as backup to Weir. When Horne returns he will make Weir obsolete too.

Great win but Glasgow need to find a lot more composure. Too many times we were looking for the miracle pass in Cardiff's 22 instead of taking the percentage option , recycling and punching another hole with the forwards.

Big difference, any of the top 3 Irish teams, would take all 5 points with that sort of forward dominance over the opposition.

So how as Warburton, and Gethin Jenkins played today.?

Jenkins seemed to hold the scrum together until he went off although there were a lot of changes at that time so it's hard to say for definite . Warburton? Was a bit anonymous tbh.

To my eyes Tyrone Holmes won the battle of the open sides tonight

Two players cant make up a ream but they were winning when they went off

Jonny Gray and Cusiter put their hands up for a start against Italy. Both were effective when they came on.

Heuer27 wrote:Jonny Gray and Cusiter put their hands up for a start against Italy. Both were effective when they came on.

Yup - I agree.

There is going to be a game sometime soon when Glasgow are really going to cut loose in the way that they did last year. You could see it in flashes today but they were just a little bit impatient still and were just going for the miracle pass to often and they were not sticking. If they can just learn to play one more phase I am sure it will come.

Having said that a few players really put there hands up today. Pygros is a good player, but Cusiter is better and the difference was clear.

Jackson is in free fall at the moment and Russell looks ready to step up. He can kick, from tee and hand, contolled the game and got the line moving. Tackled well as far as I could see to. They need to give him a start, he looks like he is ready to grab his chance when it comes along.

Johnny Gray looks like he should be playing for Scotland. Ryder was not playing badly, but the go forward physicality that he brings changed the game.

Rob Harley also looked like he fancies another cap. Who says he can't carry, he was doing it all game today. We already know he can tackle.

Mark Bennett showed a little bit of what the hype has all been about. I am not sure he will be capped this series, but fully expect it to happen over the summer. Let him stay with Glasgow, get a good run in the team and become a better player first.

Lee Jones, as a few of us suspected, in the right rugby team is a pretty good player. Just needed to get his confidence back and he has!

Ok the Cardiff pack is not the best, but Jon Welsh destroyed it when he came on. He is a very strong scrummager, surely he deserves a chance to step up.

A long journey always starts with a first step and I am feeling slightly better about the state of Scottish rugby than I was before the match started!

Yup Lee Jones was like Max Evans on speed

Seventh away win on the trot, into play off berth, MFL lose to Connacht.     

Oi! You are not (publicly} allowed to mock a fellow countryman's misfortune

That was the bets rugby I've seen all season from Glasgow the combination of Fijian flair and Scottish/ South African pragmatism seems to be quite effective, we need to start getting Fijians and Afrikaaners to start breeding north of the border.

Being picky but MacMadmata was rather poor again, Big Naka awesome and what do you say about the Jedi. Big Fella we fecking owe you again. Lee Jones is now ripping the pish right oot of the MFLs   

Twice this weekend the scrum has lost a welsh region a game.
Gethin Jenkins went off and the scrum just fell apart. How he can keep a scrummage steady and even put pressure on his opponent with Andrew on the other side is beyond me; well done Gethin. But it proves the lack of depth at the Blues, Andrews really needs to improve as he shoulder; be lifted off the ground (again) from pressure.
Sam Hobbs is a good rugby player but isn't a very good prop either, Craig Micthell will be a breathe of fresh air and they need to recruit another looshead. Rhys Gill is the perfect option with him out of favour now at the sarries. He is the best scrummager they have.
Glasgow's impact of the bench was amazing, townsend showed how to use an the emplacement to good effect; gray, cusiter and that other bloke who scored the try (don't know his name but he looked really Sharpe when he came on) especially.

Blues you threw that away and Glasgow deserved it in the end. I like that Nacewa, great handling skills.

Jhamer25 wrote:Twice this weekend the scrum has lost a welsh region a game.
Gethin Jenkins went off and the scrum just fell apart. How he can keep a scrummage steady and even put pressure on his opponent with Andrew on the other side is beyond me; well done Gethin. But it proves the lack of depth at the Blues, Andrews really needs to improve as he shoulder; be lifted off the ground (again) from pressure.
Sam Hobbs is a good rugby player but isn't a very good prop either, Craig Micthell will be a breathe of fresh air and they need to recruit another looshead. Rhys Gill is the perfect option with him out of favour now at the sarries. He is the best scrummager they have.
Glasgow's impact of the bench was amazing, townsend showed how to use an the emplacement to good effect; gray, cusiter and that other bloke who scored the try (don't know his name but he looked really Sharpe when he came on) especially.

Blues you threw that away and Glasgow deserved it in the end. I like that Nacewa, great handling skills.

You are referring to James 'The Jedi' Eddie - awesome dude and on fire off the bench at present   

Heuer27 wrote:Jenkins seemed to hold the scrum together until he went off although there were a lot of changes at that time so it's hard to say for definite . Warburton? Was a bit anonymous tbh.

Warburton was hardly anonymous mate, he was fantastic,immense in the tackles, turned over loads of Glasgow ball and put in some very flashy passes behind his back creating gaps for backs to run through.

Blues seriously dropped off after he and gethin left the field.

maestegmafia wrote:

Heuer27 wrote:Jenkins seemed to hold the scrum together until he went off although there were a lot of changes at that time so it's hard to say for definite . Warburton? Was a bit anonymous tbh.

Warburton was hardly anonymous mate, he was fantastic,immense in the tackles, turned over loads of Glasgow ball and put in some very flashy passes behind his back creating gaps for backs to run through.

Blues seriously dropped off after he and gethin left the field.

Warburton was good in the first half, trailed off in the second though

wales606 wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Heuer27 wrote:Jenkins seemed to hold the scrum together until he went off although there were a lot of changes at that time so it's hard to say for definite . Warburton? Was a bit anonymous tbh.

Warburton was hardly anonymous mate, he was fantastic,immense in the tackles, turned over loads of Glasgow ball and put in some very flashy passes behind his back creating gaps for backs to run through.

Blues seriously dropped off after he and gethin left the field.

Warburton was good in the first half, trailed off in the second though

He wasn't on the pitch much in the second..

Warbs played well, I thought, often ruling at the breakdown by himself. Inevitably he may have faded a little prior to  being subbed on the hour mark as he's still getting fitness back. That said, Holmes is a very good player.

I also don't think you can blame the scrum on Gethin leaving. Lots of people (myself included) think that Jon Welsh, Glasgow's replacement tight head yesterday, should be Scotland's first choice for the no. 3 shirt. He's quite the scrummager and it showed.

Agreed George, there are many positives Glasgow can take from this match. In fact it would be difficult to pick someone who let the side down. Although Jackson did have one of his "interesting" evenings. Bennet and Vernon worked well, and Jedi and Gray put in an awful lot of work when they came on.
A result at the Ladyboys next outing will set us up for a run at the play offs.
Warburton did a lot of good work at the breakdown but I felt Glasgow were on top throughout.

maestegmafia wrote:

wales606 wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Heuer27 wrote:Jenkins seemed to hold the scrum together until he went off although there were a lot of changes at that time so it's hard to say for definite . Warburton? Was a bit anonymous tbh.

Warburton was hardly anonymous mate, he was fantastic,immense in the tackles, turned over loads of Glasgow ball and put in some very flashy passes behind his back creating gaps for backs to run through.

Blues seriously dropped off after he and gethin left the field.

Warburton was good in the first half, trailed off in the second though

He wasn't on the pitch much in the second..

He was subbed on 60 minutes, I don't think he was as strong in the last 20 minutes as he was in the first 40.

wales606 wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

wales606 wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Heuer27 wrote:Jenkins seemed to hold the scrum together until he went off although there were a lot of changes at that time so it's hard to say for definite . Warburton? Was a bit anonymous tbh.

Warburton was hardly anonymous mate, he was fantastic,immense in the tackles, turned over loads of Glasgow ball and put in some very flashy passes behind his back creating gaps for backs to run through.

Blues seriously dropped off after he and gethin left the field.

Warburton was good in the first half, trailed off in the second though

He wasn't on the pitch much in the second..

He was subbed on 60 minutes, I don't think he was as strong in the last 20 minutes as he was in the first 40.

I thought he played well, but looked cooked when he was walking off. He can't be fully match fit yet, he was out for a good while. Amazed really that Gatland more or less put him straight back into the team with no match time, not one of his better calls and one that he paid the price for.

Be good to see him start forty or bench next Friday.

Forty as good as he gave first half vs the weegies will be bloody useful on Friday night.

jimbopip wrote:Seventh away win on the trot, into play off berth, MFL lose to Connacht.     

Just to clarify; seven away wins in succession is a league record, Lee Jones scores for the Warriors, Dan Parks destroys the MFL again and Pipetto scores two tries for the under 11's this morning.  
On the other hand; MrsPIP and Princess Fiona are at a wedding fair and I've already noticed the receipts appearing in my inbox  

It was a good performance from Glasgow, a bit more patience at times and they would surely have scored a bonus point win but it made for good viewing nonetheless. Very impressed by Finn Russell when he came on, certainly played better than Jackson. Also think Bennett can't be too far away now from getting a Scotland chance, he looked to have a good deal of creative spark last night, could be worth a go against Italy?

MacKnocked-on wrote:It was a good performance from Glasgow, a bit more patience at times and they would surely have scored a bonus point win but it made for good viewing nonetheless. Very impressed by Finn Russell when he came on, certainly played better than Jackson. Also think Bennett can't be too far away now from getting a Scotland chance, he looked to have a good deal of creative spark last night, could be worth a go against Italy?

Bennett will get his chance, but I think he has to stick with Scott and Dunbar for the rest of this tournament, hopefully they might be able to show what they can do if they ever get any ball. Bennett just needs to keep putting in those consistently good performances and he will get his chance in the summer.

Moray Low confirmed for the Ex Chiefs - not really a surprise. We have a lot better - Big Ange for one !

Stats make for interesting reading - glasgow 600m run compared to 200 odd! 100% in the set piece But 21 turnovers


http://www.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/match/191467.html

I think the stats support how well Warbuton played - 8 tackles, missed none, only Cook and Copeland made more over the 80 minutes, 5 turnovers made by himself, good passing numbers.

Also shows how well Gray and Jedi played - 6 clean lineout takes between them with Eddie carrying further than any other forward. That's a great platform.

Gray definitely put his hand up for a Scotland shirt.  Were they asked not to start him because he could be playing for scotland next?

No surprise to see that, despite the problems Scottish rugby is currently facing, some Glasgow fans are still happy to see Edinburgh lose!   

Is James Eddie unlucky not to have been in the Scotland selection mix?

BigGee wrote:There is going to be a game sometime soon when Glasgow are really going to cut loose in the way that they did last year. You could see it in flashes today but they were just a little bit impatient still and were just going for the miracle pass to often and they were not sticking. If they can just learn to play one more phase I am sure it will come.

Having said that a few players really put there hands up today. Pygros is a good player, but Cusiter is better and the difference was clear.

Jackson is in free fall at the moment and Russell looks ready to step up. He can kick, from tee and hand, contolled the game and got the line moving. Tackled well as far as I could see to. They need to give him a start, he looks like he is ready to grab his chance when it comes along.

Johnny Gray looks like he should be playing for Scotland. Ryder was not playing badly, but the go forward physicality that he brings changed the game.

Rob Harley also looked like he fancies another cap. Who says he can't carry, he was doing it all game today. We already know he can tackle.

Mark Bennett showed a little bit of what the hype has all been about. I am not sure he will be capped this series, but fully expect it to happen over the summer. Let him stay with Glasgow, get a good run in the team and become a better player first.

Lee Jones, as a few of us suspected, in the right rugby team is a pretty good player. Just needed to get his confidence back and he has!

Ok the Cardiff pack is not the best, but Jon Welsh destroyed it when he came on. He is a very strong scrummager, surely he deserves a chance to step up.

A long journey always starts with a first step and I am feeling slightly better about the state of Scottish rugby than I was before the match started!

Top summary, BigGee

C21st may be a little in love with Lee 'Try-scoring machine' Jones now; Cusiter, Gray jnr must start for Scotland; I would peronally add Harley and to that; can't wait for Strauss to pull on the navy blue

Blues capitulated once again, Glasgow are too strong a team to start dropping off tackles and they should be embarassed about how many they missed for the wingers try. Shocking.

Phil Davies just has to go, last season i was sympathetic because it was a young team and it was tough but this year it has been even worse.

Stick chief as forwards coach, get a specilist defence coach and then hire a DOR who is experienced at winning.

Change needed now.

I thought Finn Russell was outstanding when he came on - really showed up Ruaridh Jackson. He looks composed and mature, and although one of his kicks was perhaps a little wayward, his kicking in general was to a very high standard. I personally think he is a ten only and should not be moved to inside centre. For next season Glasgow's strategy should surely be to have Russell and Weir as the first choice tens.

Other noteworthy performances came from Nakawara who looked like he was playing basketball rather than rugby. Richie Vernon certainly looks more natural at outside centre than he did at number 8. Thought it was clever to have him in the lineout to have Josh Strauss hit up the midfield (had a good game). Bennett played well - I'd swap him for Scott as the latter needs to get back to match fitness by playing with Edinburgh. The 6N just came too early for him. Lee Jones played well and may have a future ahead of him. He looks like a drunk giraffe at times but he is effective when he's playing his best rugby. Full of desire which makes for pleasant viewing. Thought James Eddie, J Gray and to a lesser extent Cusiter were outstanding subs.

I wasn't as impressed as some seem to be with Rob Harley. He was falling off a few tackles and gave away a needless penalty to relieve Cardiff. Rory Hughes didn't really get involved. Jackson was awful and surely GT will scrap him for the next fixture. We urgently need Russell, Millar and Heathcote getting regular gametime, preferably in Scotland, to add much needed depth for the years ahead.

And to SJ, just pick the Glasgow front five with J Gray as the lineout and scrum worked.

Lastly, I thought that Clancy had a good game. The scrums were taking forever (did you see MacArthur HOOKED the ball    ) and collapsing in the first half, but Clancy allowed squint put ins to just get the game going. He could have been pedantic but was good officiating to let the game play faster. Re Cardiff TMO try, if we were Cardiff fans we'd say it was a try. There was no hard evidence to say it wasn't and they'd put on the pressure so fair play.

If you haven't seen the game, just watch the second half.

I've been as critical of Lee Jones as anyone on here, but it is pleasing to see him appearing to be coming back into the form that got him capped while playing for Edinburgh.

I don't know what happened last season, but he was truly awful - regularly the worst player on the pitch for Edinburgh (and that is saying something).  I mean real basic stuff here - dropped passes, dropped high balls, mistakes leading to tries, revolving door in defence - really, really awful.

I suspect the move out to the 7s has done him a lot of good, and he has had a few confidence boosting runs and tries at Glasgow which seem to have revitalised him.

He is probably one of the fastest players in Scotland, especially over 40-50m or so, and if he can get his mojo back and cut out these basic mistakes that so dogged him last year he can be a good player for Edinburgh or Glasgow, and might even push for a place in the Scotland squad.

Dougie Fife take note!

Edinburgh Rugby Twitter with a trio signing for those interested

https://twitter.com/EdinburghRugby/with_replies

Nematode wrote:Edinburgh Rugby Twitter with a trio signing for those interested

https://twitter.com/EdinburghRugby/with_replies

Interesting. Good to have more depth at prop for both Scotland and Embra. The SA laddie looks handy.

Morray Low moving isn't that big a loss with the recent news that big Mike Cusack is coming back.

That said it is a loss as it means Jon Welsh isn't coming back to loosehead..

You'll probably end up with Geoff Cross, who will have an Indian summer to his career and end up on the IRB shortlist for player of the year.

haha seriously doubt it   

He wouldn't get more game time than at Edinburgh thats sure.

Looking at the stats, big Nakawara with 9 offloads!!!
Perhaps one to many in there but what a player!