Cardiff invited pressure on themselves in the opening half hour of the match, with fly half Sam Norton-Knight continuing with the relentless ‘up and under' kicks which dominated last weekend's match.

Toulouse were more than happy to accept possession back from the Welsh side, and counter attacked with the style and menace which has made them such a European force for such a long time.

Some questionable refereeing decisions certainly aided the French dominance, with Paul Tito's harsh yellow card coming after just 14 minutes, but the Blues were playing into Toulouse hands just inviting pressure back on themselves.

The Blues were found falling off tackles and were giving the French side a licence to roam. It was a mini Christmas miracle that they were only 8 points down half hour in, with Freddie Michalak penalty and a questionable Dusautior's try all they had to show for their creativity.

But despite being thoroughly under the cosh, the Blues got an unexpected breakthrough from the most unlikely of sources. Sam Norton-Knight's first touch without kicking the ball away led to a wonderful try. The Australian stand off ran with ball in hand through the first tackler, and offloaded an excellent behind the back pass to Tao' Felise. The prop found himself in space just outside the 22, and ran like a bull at French full back Vincent Clerc who wanted nothing to do with it, putting in a half-hearted tackle which barely slowed the Tongan on his way to the line.

Blair's conversion brought his side back within a point, and moments later the Kiwi had the chance to gain the lead. The try had clearly brought confidence back to the Blues, and when Gareth Williams' cheeky lineout led to another insurgence into the 22, Patrice Albacete was sin binned for coming in at the side. However Blair's efforts went wide and the visitors were lefts ruing a missed opportunity.

Half Time

Toulouse 8
Cardiff Blues 7

Cardiff began the half as strongly as they'd finished the first, but a stupid late tackle by Andy Powell gave the impetus back to Toulouse. He saw the third yellow of the match and worse still gifted the home side an easy three points.

 The excellent Freddie Michalak kept his side ticking over with a drop goal on their next visit to the 22, and you could begin to see Toulouse pulling away.

The Blues were really digging deep and were certainly offering much more going forward than in recent weeks - Jamie Roberts hasn't seen that much ball all season! - but they were lacking the clinical element to get the score they desperately needed.

Ritchie Rees made a great impact having come on for Cooper getting much cleaner, quicker ball to his backs, but Michalaks third penalty put the Blues out of bonus point territory and from there it was always going to be an uphill struggle. Fair play to Dai Young's men, they continued to push and got into the Toulouse 22 on a few occasions, but they failed to get the rub of the green and the French side were able to boot the ball away every time.

In the end, Toulouse's experience ground out a fine win, chocking the visitors out of the second half. Man of the Match Michalak slotted his 4^th and 5^th penalties sending Cardiff home without so much as a bonus point.

Full Time

Toulouse 23
Cardiff Blues 7

Ben Blair; Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Richard Mustoe; Sam Norton-Knight, Gareth Cooper; Gethin Jenkins, Gareth Williams, Taufa'ao Filise, Deiniol Jones, Paul Tito (capt), Andy Powell, Martyn Williams, Xavier Rush.

T Rhys Thomas, Sam Hobbs, Gary Powell, Scott Morgan for Tito (62), Sam Warburton for A. Powell (71), Richie Rees for Cooper (60), Ceri Sweeney for Norton-Knight (77), Gareth Thomas or Mustoe (72).

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