By Andrew Collins
January 9 2006

The Blues suffered a massive Celtic league setback on Sunday, with their third successive loss to Borders at Netherdale. A sellout 4,000 fans packed the tiny stadium as legend Jonah Lomu hit Scotland for the first time in the Celtic League.

Having only seen the highlights, i can only comment on the trys and opinion on where this leaves us.

Cardiff made 13 changes from the side that lost to Scarlets earlier in the week, but fans were still confident of bringing 4 point back to Wales.

Already bhind 3-0 to a Charlie Hore penalty, the Blues were to slip further behind straight from the restart.

A knock on from Jonah Lomu gave the Reivers easy turnover ball which they used supurbly. From inside their 22, a cheeky chip over Duane Goofeild allowed Borders to gallop down the wing, Craig Morgan standing in at full back did his best with a good tackle, but the offloads were spot on, and despite captain Robin Sowden-Taylor also making a last ditch tackle, Tom Mcgee was on hand to accept another offload an score under the posts for a 7 point lead.

Hore then came out on top, striking another 2 penalties before the half, bettering Nick Macleod's 1, giving the SCottish minnows a 13 point lead.

Final Score:

Border Reivers 16 Cardiff Blues 3

The second half saw the usual purple patch from Cardiff, 2 quick penalties from the Capital made it look as though the comeback was all set up, however they were unable to take advantage of the massive possession they had, and failed to clock up points despite setting camp in the Borders 22.

The balence of the game changed again shortly after, having defended for their life for 15 minutes, and not conceded a point, the Reivers scored a breakaway try, mainly through the pace and angle of Simon Daneilli.

The Scottish international cut the line and set up centre Stuart Moffat who came close, only for Nikki Walker to have the simple task of crossing the line. Hore converted and added a penalty to put Cardiff beyond reach.

Except of course unless a very spirited comeback were on the cards. At 26-9, the Blues were dead and burried, but try telling Australlian centre Marc Strchebina. He crossed after a strong hand off in midefeild, converted by Macelod, then Craig Quinnel on for James Goode crossed from close range which Macleod also converted.

It set up a tense last few minutes, but in the end the Borders held on to secure their 3rd victory as home against the Blues in as many meetings.

There was a bonus point for their valeint comeback, but inevitably, that won't be enough to see off chasing Dragons and Ospreys.

How big a loss this is we will know come the end of the season, but the Borders have been going strong recently, and they played a side which had 13 changes. Yes we should win these games, but under the circumstances, we'd rather be quater finalists.

Final Score:

Border Reivers 26 Cardiff Blues 23

So where does this leave us for Perpignan? Well in terms of injuires no less off, Dai can be very thankful that the Borders game saw no injuries other than tour average bumps and bruises. But in terms of moral and preperation, not so good.

Most of the players who missed this game will be back for the big one, however they won't played for 2 weeks, which you never know whether it's a curse or blessing.

No doubt, the final result will depend on who plays, and which Cardiff team turns up. Cardiff are once again in that Jekyll and Hyde mode, and it lies purely at the foot of Nicky Robinson. At 10, you need to kick your goals and know how to win a game. Robinson is a fantastic player, a real classy number 10 and when on form, fully competing for Steven Jones shirt. However, he is not on form enough.

If Nicky turns up and plays with confidence, style and suave, Cardiff will win, if he looks nervous and uncomfortable, my advice would be to get Nick Macleod on.

Let it be know, i'm a big fan of Robinson, and rate him with highest regard, but we've seen both the best and the worst of him this year, and they came in back-to-back matches, so is his inconsistancey.

Elsewhere, well the back row must be fir and function. Andy, Mart and Xav have to start, they offer such variety and ball carrying outlets that without them we look soft and clueless.

The back row must be accompanied by Mike Phillips. Ryan Powell is a Cardiff boy, and i admire his passion for winning and dogged style, however, Phillips is just a class above. His distribution is so much quicker, he offers a supurb attacking option with his tap penalties, and he brings out the best in Nicky.

As for the other positions, Martin Jones may well keep Yappy out of the starting lineup. The prop, whose contract expires at the end of the season, has impressed with strong scrummaging displays and has partnered Geth and TR very effectively.

The other key area that may well let Cardiff down is the line-out. Hense, TR and Rob Sidoli must start, and be on top form. Quinnel will probably be kept as the impact man, so Deiniol Jones must also be a becon in the line.

So thats all then....

Eep!