The match was set to be one of passion and emotion with a total of 21 players leaving from both sides at the end of the season. Cardiff Blues took an early lead, after excellent disruptive work by Josh Navidi, a good steal by Gethin Jenkins who then gave a short pass to Lloyd Williams who shipped onto Chris Czekaj to put Andries Pretorius to gallop in for a simple run in to the try line. Sweeney slotted the conversion to make it 7-0 after only three minutes.
Scott Andrew was offside at a ruck, the resulting penalty saw Priestland peg back three points. It became an open game, end to end with both sides looking to put some width on the ball, with both forwards and backs looking to get involved. The Blues were happy to go through the phases but the Scarlets seemed to have the edge in the scrum. A good angled run by Cuthbert almost paid dividends but the pass was judged forward by the referee.
An excellent breakaway by Robinson, who stepped outside Priestland to make a dash for the line. However a great chase by second row, Day managed to slow him up and allow Lamont to make a great tackle which denied the youngster a try. Scott Andrews gave away a penalty, for not rolling away which saw a pinpoint kick by Priestland put the Scarlets within 12 metres of the Blues line.
This was proving to be a very open game with both sides making mistakes. But an error in judgment by Harry Robinson, who took Lamont out in the air from a kick, gave a penalty to the Scarlets. Scrum half Davies took a quick tap penalty and sprinted down the touchline sidestepping Sweeney, which resulted in the first try for the Scarlets. Priestland added the conversion.
The Blues made a great start to the game and had defended well but were failing to get out of their 22. The half ended with the Scarlets showing more attacking endeavor but the Blues showed great spirit in defence as exampled in the final play of the half where the Scarlets were attacking but the forwards managed to turn over the ball.
Half time Scarlets 10 Cardiff Blues 7
The second half saw Dan Parks come on to replace Ceri Sweeney for his last appearance for Cardiff Blues. An early attack by the Blues, with a well worked move by the backs off the training park resulted in a great movement by Laulala and a lovely angle by Czekaj who put Cuthbert through to use his pace to get the ball over the line. Parks kick went wide and missed the conversion.
Another excellent move from the Blues, with good work by Navidi and Pretorius, led to interplay by the forwards and the backs, showing quick hands but a forward pass prevented a certain try. The Scarlets came back quickly as a result of a turnover in midfield that lead to another break from Davies who gained his second try in the corner. Priestland went on to get the conversion.
Cardiff Blues quickly responded, matching the handling of the Scarlets backs and forwards, with Pretorius, Andrews and Williams showing great hands giving the ball to Robinson who completed the well worked move, to score another try for the Blues. Parks misses the conversion, leaving the teams level on 17-17.
Richie Rees replaced Lloyd Williams to get his 100th cap for the Blues. The Scarlets winger, Liam Williams hit back in the last ten minutes bundling his way over the try line. Priestland missed the conversion keeping the score within two points.
In the final minutes of the game, Jenkins was replaced by Yapp, who after only a short period on the field picked up an injury. Jenkins had to return to the field almost immediately. After several resets of the scrum on the Blues line, Nigel Owens decided to award a penalty try to the Scarlets. Priestland went on to convert the try for the extra points to see them gain the win.
Cardiff Blues
Tries Pretorius x1, Cuthbert x1, Robinsonx1
Pen Parks x1
Con Sweeney x1,
D/G
Scarlets
Tries Davies x2, Williams x1 Pen Try x1
Pen Priestland x1
Con Priestland x3
D/G
Cardiff Blues 15 Chris Czekaj 14 Alex Cuthbert 13 Casey Laulala 12 Dafydd Hewitt 11 Harry Robinson (68 off) 10 Ceri Sweeney (40off) 9 Lloyd Williams (56off)
8 Andries Pretorius 7 Josh Navidi (70off) 6 Maama Molitika 5 James Down 4 Bradley Davies 3 Scott Andrews 2 Marc Breeze(70off) 1 Gethin Jenkins (c) (73off/ 74on)
16 Kristian Dacey(70on) 17 John Yapp (73on/ 74off) 18 Ryan Harford 19 Macauley Cook 20 Luke Hamilton(70on) 21 Richie Rees (56on) 22 Dan Parks(40on) 23 Gavin Evans(68on)
Scarlets 15 Liam Williams, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Stephen Jones, 11 Andy Fenby , 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies
1 Rhodri Jones , 2 Ken Owens , 3 Deacon Manu, 4 Aaron Shingler, 5 Dominic Day, 6 Kieran Murphy, 7 Josh Turnbull (c), 8 Ben Morgan
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips , 17 Phil John , 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Johnathan Edwards , 21 Tavis Knoyle , 22 Adam Warren, 23 Viliame Iongi