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Multi-coloured Quins leave Cardiff looking blue.


By Bedfordshire Boy
November 24 2015

Thursday night matches seem to be like buses, wait ages for one and then two come along  together, you can already see the TV companies looking at the Montpellier v Quins match as being a prime candidate for another. This was my first visit to The Arms Park, one of a clutch of famous old rugby union grounds,  which sadly is showing its age. Very pleasing to see the turnout by the Quins fans who were certainly vocal in their support. Certainly not the strongest Quins team I have ever seen but COS has said that we can expect to see a lot of squad rotation this season. I am sure that a lot of people, especially the media, were looking forward to the battle of the sevens, but in the event Robshaw wasn`t selected and Warburton pulled out prior to kick off due to illness. The teams lined up prior to kick off for a one minute standing ovation in memory of Jonah Lomu who of course played for Cardiff for a short period in the 2005/06 season after his return to rugby following a kidney transplant;  quite a moving moment in memory a true gentleman and rugby great.

So to the match, Blues press from the start but Quins straightaway show their intent by running the ball out of defence, sometimes from inside their own in goal area much to the consternation of the travelling fans. The first scrum of the evening goes to Quins after a knock on by Blues Lee-Lo from which a penalty is awarded to Blues who turn down the shot at goal and kick to the corner. From the catch and drive Blues are held up short of the line and Quins get the second penalty of the evening after 4 minutes, Harry Sloane carries the ball out of defence, Blues are penalised and Botica kicks to the safety of touch on the 10m line. Following the line out Mark Lambert is penalised for holding on which gives Blues number 10 Rhys  Patchell a shot at goal from nearly 40m out - successful kick, 3 - 0 after 7 minutes. Both defences are functioning well with Quins being bossed a bit by Blues who are eventually awarded another penalty, Patchell ones again adds the points, 6 - 0 after 12 minutes.

Quins claim the ball from the restart and a speculative long pass from Botica to Tim Visser goes straight into touch. Blues press from the line out but Botica eventually makes a clearance kick which the Blues number 10 fumbles close to his 22 leading to a Quins scrum. Quins make good progress from the Scrum but are eventually penalised for failing to release at the breakdown and the Blues clear the ball to touch on halfway. James Chisholm limps off and is replaced in the back row by hooker Dave Ward on 17 minutes. Blues easily win the lineout as crooked throws are obviously no longer penalised!

On 20 minutes, Quins are awarded their second penalty of the night which Karl Dickson taps and goes but the attack eventually breaks down and Blues clear the ball well into the Quins half of the field once again putting Quins under pressure. A Dickson attempt to clear the ball is charged down but Quins eventually clear their line with a breakout by Charlie Walker. Quins continue with their offloading game and following a good break by Charlie Matthews, Quins are awarded a penalty on 25 minutes, Boticas kick hits the post and the Blues spill the ball giving Quins a scrum in a good position. Quins really pressing now and from a penalty Quins kick to touch 5m out but overthrow the ball which allows the Blues to clear the ball. Noticed that the plastic pitch seems to be taking its toll with no end of players receiving treatment to their ankles and lower leg, Kyle Sinkler being one of those.

Quins continue to press and a break by Jack Clifford takes him into the Blues 22 before he is tackled and seems to go to ground like a ton of bricks. I have to say that most of us watching suspected foul play, post match confirmed as being unfounded, but not helped by nothing being shown of the incident on the TV screen while Clifford was laid out for 5 minutes or more. Clifford is stretchered off to be replaced by academy second rower Kieran Treadwell on 30 minutes, the Quins back row in now made up of Nick Easter plus a second row and an hooker. The game is restarted with a scrum to Quins inside the Cardiff 22 with Quins winning a penalty a few minutes later which Botica slots home from 40m to bring the score to 6 - 3 after 34 minutes. Quins continue to press with good interplay between Easter and Ward eventually leading to a penalty which is kicked to touch close to the Blues 22. The lineout leads to a Quins scrum from which Matt Hopper makes a clean break into the Blues 22 before being halted. Just before the half time whistle Botica goes close but Cardiff clear their line and the referee brings the half to a close. My thoughts on the first half was that after a strong start, Cardiff were made to look very ordinary.

Botica kicks off for the second half and Quins get a very early penalty due to a Blues player being offside, Boticas kick to the corner is wasted as the ball runs dead, scrum back for Cardiff. Quins seem to have got their game together now, and following probing breaks by Ward and Sloane, Quins are awarded a penalty for Jenkins holding on to the ball, 6 - 6 after 46 minutes. Blues go back on the attack from the restart with Quins still opting to play the ball out of defence and the first try of the game comes from a 70m intercept by Tim Visser who grounds the ball under the posts - have to say I was not convinced that he was going to make it all the way to the line. Easy conversion for Botica, 6 - 13 after 50 minutes. Hoeata is replaced for the Blues and Joe Marler comes on for Mark Lambert and almost immediately Blues lose the ball in the tackle which allows Ollie Lindsay-Hague to skip through the defence to score Quins second try. Botica again adds the conversion and Quins find them fourteen points ahead after 52 minutes, 6 - 20. Danny Care comes on as a blood substitute for Karl Dickson after 55 minutes as the game starts to open up with both sides running with the ball.

Cardiff win a penalty on 57 minutes and put the ball deep into the Quins 22 but Quins steal the lineout ball and work their way up the field and just fail to score again when a neat kick through by Care goes long. From the 22 restart Treadwell gathers the ball in an offside position and is penalised and Cardiff again kick the ball deep into Quins territory. Quins are rewarded with a penalty following a long period of attack by the Blues on 61 minutes and Kyle Sinkler is replaced  by Will Collier. Cardiff are awarded a scrum for a knock on by Marler but Quins get a penalty from a huge effort by the forwards and Botica kicks for touch about 10m out from the Cardiff line. From the resulting maul, Ward makes a break who offloads to Care who then gets a pass away to Charlie Walker to score, Boticas conversion attempt hits the post, 6 - 25 after 65 minutes. A few minutes later Botica is penalised for offside and Cardiff again kick to the corner, Tim Swiel comes on to replace Ben Botica. Cardiff set up a rolling maul from the lineout and are awarded a penalty try after Quins collapse the maul, conversion is good, 13 - 25 after 69 minutes.

Quins are straight back on the attack, and although the Blues are awarded a scrum, the TMO is called into action for suspected foul play. The TV replay clearly shows the boot of Blues hooker Matthew Rees contacting the head of Nick Easter and the French referee has little option to showing the red card on 74 minutes. The game getting a bit frantic now with Quins still looking for a bonus point try and the Blues hoping to rescue a losing bonus point. Visser almost breaks clear but the pass is adjudged forward and he is again unlucky a few minutes later when he almost intercepts a Blues pass for the second time in the match. Blues are pressing in the dying minutes and are rewarded when Sam Hobbs goes over the Quins line and for the second time, they take a quick conversion with a drop kick, 20 - 25 after 79 minutes. With seconds showing on the clock Quins restart and just when you think it is all over  Danny Care gathers up a turnover ball and scampers over to score in the corner. Tim Swiel makes the conversion look easy, final score Cardiff Blues 20, Harlequins 32.

With two bonus point wins from the first two matches in the pool, Quins will be very happy and should be odds on to end the knockout stage as pool winners and a home tie in the quarter finals. Slightly worrying is the tendency this season to leak trys in the final 10 minutes of the match, could cost the team dear in a tight match. I thought the whole team put in a good shift and the apparent strength in depth of the squad is beginning to show as this side was quite some way from the strongest fifteen. Charlie Matthews is continuing to show improvement as is Matt Hopper (doesn`t lose the ball in every tackle as seems to have done in previous seasons) and I am sure that Ben Botica can only get better with game time. Just over 5000 turned out for the game which is a little disappointing for a city centre ground but all in all, a good evening and well worth the trip. The last word must go to Dave Ward who was everywhere and looks to be a natural back row player and well deserved his Man Of The Match award. 

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Multi-coloured Quins leave Cardiff looking blue.
Discussion started by ComeAllWithin.co.uk , 24/11/2015 21:26
ComeAllWithin.co.uk
24/11/2015 21:26
What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
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Monte
24/11/2015 23:26
Thanks for doing the report. Felt very fair on what I saw on Sky

Harleys Evil Step Mum
25/11/2015 15:15
Do you think every try that Danny has EVER scored uses the word 'scamper' somewhere in the prose? winking smiley

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