Cardiff Blues 57 Benetton Treviso 20

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Wales’ Capital Region made a bright start at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park with Nick Williams crossing after just five minutes but they were frustrated for large periods.

Blaine Scully put the Blues back in front after Ian McKinley wriggled over for Treviso but there was plenty to do in the second-half.

And whatever Danny Wilson said at the interval certainly did the trick as the Blues ran riot with six further tries.

Shingler, Sion Bennett, Kristian Dacey, Willis Halaholo and Matthew Morgan all touched down while Alex Cuthbert, who was a constant threat, struck in the final minute.

The Blues made a promising start to the encounter with number eight Williams rampaging off the back of an early scrum and releasing Lloyd Williams with an audacious offload around the back of the defender.

Williams beat one man but was eventually hauled down. The ball was retained and spread left but Blaine Scully lost the ball in contact.

Wilson’s men however remained in control and on six minutes, number eight Williams burst through the Italian defence in midfield on the twenty-two to race over the whitewash.

Shingler converted the effort to open up a 7-0 lead before Tito Tebaldi responded with a pair of penalties.

The Blues enjoyed further spells of sustained pressure but were unable to breakdown the Treviso defence at key moments and eventually settled for a Shingler penalty.

However the Blues were dealt a major blow when they failed to exit following the restart and then knocked on at the back of a scrum.

From the ensuing set-piece Treviso were awarded a free-kick and the ball was quickly moved to McKinley, who bamboozled the defence with his fleet of foot.

The try sparked the Blues into life and they instantly responded after Scully soared into the air to win the restart.

Anscombe broke through the middle and fired a long pass to Cuthbert but the wing was heavily marked and unable to force a scoring moment.

But the ball was recycled and following a succession of phases the Blues created space on the left and Anscombe drew two men before popping a short pass for Scully to score.

Shingler converted the effort to go into half-time with a 17-13 lead and the home side came flying out of the blocks following the restart.

They fired the scoreboard back into action within a minute of the second-half as Matthew Morgan broke out of his half on the counter-attack.

He had support either side but opted to pass inside to scrum-half Williams, who put Shingler away.

The fly-half converted the effort and the Blues almost created a quick-fire second as they countered again.

Cuthbert broke on the outside, with a last-ditch ankle-tap saving the day for Treviso but the Blues did not have to wait long.

They remained in the ascendant and the Italians eventually ran out of numbers as Bennett cantered over to cap his first start since joining the region for the remainder of the season.

Shingler maintained his 100 per cent strike-rate and he was quickly back at the tee as the Blues made it three tries in nine minutes.

Morgan was the instigator once again as he mesmerised the Italians with some sensational foot-work to leave defender after defender in his wake.

It looked as though he had dummied his way past Luce Sperandio but he was scragged and offloaded to put Dacey under the sticks.

Shingler kept the scoreboard ticking and Treviso hit-back with a converted try of their own through Angelo Esposito but the rampant Blues soon resumed normal service.

Typically Cuthbert had worked tirelessly all game and when the opportunity arose he displayed his devastating pace.

He tore past two men on the outside before beating a third with a sumptuous offload as Halaholo crashed over.

Full-back Morgan was next as he turned from creator to finisher following a succession of strong forward charges, before Cuthbert put the icing on the cake with a fine solo score at the death.

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