Cardiff Blues 11 - 19 Edinburgh
HT 8-9
Sat 05 October 17:15 Cardiff Arms Park Ref: Frank Murphy Guinness PRO14

Cardiff Blues 11 Edinburgh 19

Sat 5 Oct 2019 18:45 Cardiff Blues 11 Edinburgh 19

A stunning Owen Lane try was not enough for Cardiff Blues as Edinburgh battled to a 19-11 victory in the Guinness PRO14.

In an encounter littered with errors due to the greasy conditions, it was the Scots that faired the better to secure their second win of the season.

Jaco van der Walt continually punished John Mulvihill’s men, while fellow South African Duhan van der Merwe was a constant menace with ball in hand.

Lane’s fine effort closed the gap on the visitors while Jarrod Evans and Van der Walt continued to exchange penalties, however Mark Bennett dealt the Blues a devastating blow with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Wales' Capital Region travel to Scotland next week as they continue the Guinness PRO14 campaign against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium.

Jaco van der Walt booted the visitors into the lead after just two minutes and they continued to dominate the opening period, benefitting from the decisions of Frank Murphy.

He slotted another penalty on nine minutes, making it 6-0 to the Scots but the Blues were about to battle back.

They were now the beneficiary of the referee’s decisions and piled the pressure on Edinburgh, who saw Fraser McKenzie sent to the sin-bin for cynically collapsing a maul.

It appeared as through the blues had powered over at the third time of asking when Liam Belcher pivoted off the back to crash over the whitewash, but the effort was chalked off after replays showed a knock on. That let Edinburgh off the hook, and they remained in the ascent with a six-point advantage.

Cardiff Blues did not have to wait long for their first points however, with Lane claiming a try with his first opportunity to stretch his legs. It was a stunning team try off first phase with Willis Halaholo and Jarrod Evans teasing the defence before putting Garyn Smith through a gap in the defence.

The centre released Aled Summerhill and slick handling released a full steam Lane and he raced into the corner. Evans was unable to add the extras from the touchline, but Wales’ Capital Region were now just a point adrift.

From the restart, Edinburgh pinned Cardiff Blues back again and Mulvihill would have breathed a sigh of relief when Seb Davies was shown yellow after tipping a player’s legs at a maul.

Van der Walt struck the uprights with the ensuing penalty and minutes later Mike Willemse lost possession as he charged towards the whitewash.

Evans booted the Blues into the lead on 35 minutes, but it was short-lived as his side were penalised virtually right after the restart despite a rampaging charge from captain Nick Williams.

Van der Walt duly slotted the three points to make it 8-9 with half-time approaching and they hung onto their lead going into the changing rooms.

However, it did not take long for Cardiff Blues to take the lead with Evans adding his second penalty on 44 minutes.

Following an error-strewn first-half, the Blues hung onto much more possession in the second, stringing phase after phase together but they had to fight for every inch.

A powerful break from Duhan van der Merwe set alarm bells ringing soon after and while he was forced to pass to Luke Crosibie, the bust laid the platform for Van der Walt to boot the Scots back in front.

Wales’ Capital Region battled hard throughout but they were dealt a devastating blow when George Stringer burst through the home defence and with a three on one put Mark Bennett away despite the best efforts of Lane.

Van der Walt was once again on target to edge the Scots out of reach and crucially deny Cardiff Blues a losing bonus-point.