Stade Francais 12 Cardiff Blues 6
Sunday 9 December 4.00pm kick off Stade Jean Bouin, Paris
The match kicked off with the Blues playing into a strong wind and lashing rain. Stade tried to take advantage of the conditions and an early penalty effort was struck just wide. However the Blues were penalised for going into the side of a ruck, and this time the kick was converted by Hernandez.
A good kick for territory by Blair put the Blues in Stades twenty two. When Stade failed to roll away from a ruck, Blair kicked into the wind at the posts but the ball went just wide. However, the Kiwi full back was accurate with his next effort to level the score.
The Blues however were dealt a blow minutes later. Nicky Robinson put in a great kick to touch but collapsed with what looked like a strain of his hip flexor injury. Richie Rees came on at scrum half with Jason spice moving to ten.
The Blues were penalised again and Hernandez again converted. However the Argentinean outside half was substituted for Skrela a few minutes later and Skrela kicked a penalty to extend the lead to 9-3.
HALF TIME STADE FRANCAIS 9 CARDIFF BLUES 3
With the wind behind them in the second half the Blues were pushing Stade back in their own half. However Stade did try to attack and worked their way into the Blues twenty two and eventually won a penalty that Skrela again converted.
The outside half wasnt so effective in defence and dropped the ball on the try line as the Blues attacked. The scrum saw Rush pick up and drive for the line, however the ball was knocked on as they tried to drive forward. Stade failed to clear and the Blues won a penalty that Blair converted.
Stade won a penalty for offside and Skrela stood up to convert. This time he struck it wide, and the drop out twenty two rolled all the way over the dead ball line to give Stade a scrum in a good field position. Excellent defence from Molitika saw him steal the ball for the Blues to eventually clear.
It was a tight match with only six points separating the teams. With tem minutes left Stade pulled down a ruck and the Blues kicked the penalty to corner for a line out going for the win. The Blues were camped on the Stade tryline for the final minutes of the match and despite pushing forward the Stade defence was firm.
They managed to hold on to the win, but the Blues can take a lot of confidence from the performance as they welcome the Parisian to the Arms Park next week for the rematch.
15 Ben Blair 14 Jamie Roberts 13 Jamie Robinson 12 Gareth Thomas 11 Tom James 10 Nicky Robinson (24off) 9 Jason Spice 8 Xavier Rush (c) 7 Martyn Williams 6 Maama Molitika 5 Paul Tito 4 Deiniol Jones 3 Gary Powell
Camped (50off) 2 Gareth Williams 1 Gethin Jenkins 16 Taufaao Filise (50on) 17 T Rhys Thomas 18 John Yapp 19 Scott Morgan 20 Andy Powell 21 Richie Rees (24on) 22 Tom Shanklin
SCORERS:
CARDIFF BLUES stade francai
TRIES
PENALTIES Blair x 2 Herandez x 2 Skrela x 2
CONVERSIONS
DROP GOALS
Weve got a point out in Paris and have to back it up with a win next week at the Arms Park. Its a massive game for us. David Young