By Andrew Collins
November 20 2006

The Blues ground out a woeful 15-13 win over Irish province Connacht, on a wet and windy night at the Arms Park.

Man of the Match Ben Blair kicked all of Cardiff’s points after going behind in the first minute, when Matt Mostyn went over for the only try of the game.

 

In what was an awful advert for Magners League rugby, Cardiff came out on top despite Connacht controlling the first half. The Irish boys went in up at half time, 13-9, but a far more confident second forty by the home side eventually saw them take the lead for the first time, and indeed maintain it without conceding.

 

What will worry fans and coaches alike was the lack of inspiration from any player, 1 to 15. There were a handful of individuals who stood out in a poor crowd, but in all truth, not one of those players can feel they played anything like their full potential.

 

Nick Robinson, the linchpin of all good Cardiff have done this year, was off colour, and did nothing to make Gareth Jenkins regret his decision to not include the fly half in his Welsh squad.

 

There was encouragement in the form of Rhys Shellard, the flanker looking solid wearing Martyn Williams’ jersey, while Wayne Evans made one or two nice breaks, though his general distribution may well have contributed to Robinson’s poor performance.

 

It’s a game that won’t live long in the memory, but then that’s probably a good thing. Had Connacht won this match, fans would be forced to revisit the score by journo’s and rivals alike.

 

But the positive to take from the match is indeed the most important, we won. Those 4 points are no better than a win in Munster or Llanelli when the final league standings are posted. 4 points cannot be sniffed at, and though many fans will have expected 5 before the game, you won’t find one Blues fan who would’ve preferred to lose.

 

Problems to sort out, but thanks to some accurate goal kicking, not a major issue.

 

theArmsPark.co.uk’s Man of the Match – Ben Blair

Blair converted all 5 of his place kicks and was present in most things the Blues did well, albeit very little. Looked selfish once or twice, and was found making the wrong decision to back himself with the odds against him. Not a polished performance, but he knows that. Not quite the best of a bad bunch, but certainly a mediocre one.

 

He said after the game;

 

"Connacht dominated the first half physically and were the better side. But we turned it around in the second period, kept it in their half and got the points to win. We're not terribly happy with the performance and know we're not playing with a lot of confidence. But we'll take the win and the league points and hope to turn the performances around in the next few weeks."

 

Rhys Shellard and Deniol Jones stood out upfront and in truth won the match by not giving the ball to a very average back line. Both played well, but Blair’s overall contribution means he pips the duo to the title.

 

Blair, Luveitasau, J. Robinson, Stcherbina, Czekaj, N. Robinson, Evans, Yapp, Goodfield, Roberts, Davies, Jones, Morgan, Shellard, Rush.

James (Luveitasau 67), G. Williams (Goodfield 68), Lewis (Morgan 70).