By apb
January 24 2006

Yeah, OK, I'm a bit late with this report, and most people have already discussed things on the messageboard. But what the hey, I going to put down a few words about this one anyway, because quite frankly, this was the performance we've all been waiting for for the last four years!

Tykes went in to the game with their fate in others' hands. They had to win, they had to score five tries, and they had to hope Bath would stand up to the test of Leinster on their home ground, in order to get a place in the quarter finals of the Heineken cup.

With the arrival of "Jonah Lomu's Cardiff Blues" (as the marketeers rather predicably billed it), the crowd of 7,144 people poured into Headingley Carnegie Stadium to see two All Black legends go head-to-head.

Tykes started the game well, applying pressure through all parts of the line, but Cardiff's defence was pretty good and held the Tykes attack at bay. After six minutes, Justin Marshall decided descretion was the better part of valour and slotted over a neat drop-goal to put the first points on the board. Nicely done!

Claiming the ball comfortably at the restart, the Tykes already looked comfortable and in control, and some slick handling allowed Chris Bell and Andre Snyman a two-on-one, with Snyman steaming down the right side for a forty yard dash and to get try number one on the board. Gordon Ross slotted the conversion superbly to take the score to 10-0. Leeds fans cheers, and muttered "just another four to go" quietly under their breaths.

Once again the Tykes were comfortable at the restart and did all the basics right, kicking where necessary, but at the same time mixing up the play to keep Cardiff on their toes. Tom Biggs and Andre Snyman were always on hand to gain huge yards with the ball being swept out wide in wave after wave of attack, and the forwards were also driving forward at opportune moments. Cardiff were all at seas, and when Tom Palmer crashed over for another great try, it was only what Leeds deserved. Ross again converted, and it was 17-0 on 30 minutes.

Cardiff attempted to get back into the game by taking their chance of a penalty kick in front of the posts; some Cardiff fans have expressed incredulity at this decision, but I remember saying at the time that this was the sensible move on their part. 17-3, and it looked like a respectable enough score to take us to half time.

But Tom Biggs had other ideas, and after pouncing on a ball that was spilled by Cardiff when under little pressure, he kicked on and took the ball over the line for a fabulous individual try. Ross once again kept his record at 100% to bring the half-time score to 24-3, and the fans now seriously considering for the first time the possibility of scoring the required five tries.

"But wait", we all appeared to say to each other, "that was a good half of rugby. Leeds never seem to do two good halves together. Lets just hang on for the win".

It took just three minutes into the second half for the try bonus point to be earned, with Andre Snyman sniping down the blind-side of a ruck to score in the corner, and with Goggsy's conversion attempt falling short, the score went to 29-3.
Tykes showed no sign of letting up the pressure, and phase after phase of play saw them camped on the Cardiff line. Cardiff tried to shore up their failing forward defence by bringing on John Yapp, but nothing was doing, and it took a cynical handing in the scrum offence from scrum-half Phillips to stop the eight-man shove. The ref showed the yellow card, although I wasn't sure why this didn't merit a penalty try. Two minutes later, with the Tykes taking the scrum instead of the penalty kick, another infringement exhausted what was left of the ref's patience, and the penalty try was awarded. Ross converted and score now stood at 36-3. Wait a minute, that was the fifth....!

The Tykes fans were by now able to sit back and enjoy the festival, and with chants of "we want six!", the predictable rash of substitutions from both teams were made with twenty minutes to go. On sixty five minutes, a further Tykes shove close to the line allowed Justin Marshall to pick up and dive over, placing the ball on the ground with relish and to the delight of everyone around. 41-3, and another difficult conversion attempt that didn't quite make it.

Ten minutes to go and the blot on the Tykes day - Gavin Kerr was sin-binned for repeatedly collapsing the scrum. I thought this was a bit suspect since the Tykes looked to have the beating of the Cardiff scrum all game, but to be fair it was on the opposite side from where I was stood, so I suppose the ref. had a better sight of things than me. There were also more substitutions made - that sharp wit Mark_C commented that Dan Hyde was coming on to play the ten minutes he normally misses in most of his games!

With the last few minutes of the game to go, the Tykes were clearly having fun, stealing the ball from the Cardiff hands and at the breakdown almost at will, and once again some slick passing put David Doherty away for try number seven. Ross converted and the final score got to 48-3.

Thoughts

Those who know me will have heard me saying in the last few months that I really wanted to go to a Tykes game, enjoy the atmosphere and not be biting my nails hoping for the win in the eighty-sixth minute. I wanted to be able to relax after sixty knowing we'd got it won. That's exactly what we saw in this game, and it was a superb feeling. Let's have more of that please!

The game was clearly played with a lot of imagination and creativity. The backs were able to string passes together and perform sublime manouevres that we have been aching to see at Headingley. The forwards were dominant and the all-Welsh back-row of Thomas, Parks and Morgan - oh the irony! - were swooping on anything and everything that was swoopable on. Cardiff were never in it.

It was also great to see Jonah Lomu at Headingley. Still a giant of a man, he was, alas, rarely seen in the game as amazingly Cardiff didn't seem to want to give him the ball. The two or three times he got the ball he made good yards (which is more than can be said for most of the rest of them!), but Tom Biggs was there with excellent tackling technique to make sure he didn't get near the line.

The papers and the Welsh media have poured scorn on the Cardiff Blues for what they consider a woeful and inept performance on their part. "Can't even beat the worst club in the English Premiership" was one comment I read today. The table puts us in twelfth, but after seeing Bath play - both at Headingley and at the Rec against Leinster shortly after the Tykes game - I would not say that Leeds are the worst team. Bottom, yes, but not the worst.

Next weekend, the Tykes will get a chance to rectify that against Northampton, and show the rest of the rugby world that there has been a renaisance in Yorkshire...

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