Lloyd Williams produced a masterful display from scrum-half as Cardiff Blues won their first GUINNESS PRO12 game following the departure of director of rugby Mark Hammett, with a 21-15 triumph over Edinburgh. Williams’ dummy left the Edinburgh defence for dead for Cardiff’s opening try before Gavin Evans extended the lead by finishing off a well-worked team move. Tim Visser went over for Edinburgh early in the second half but Rhys Patchell’s score meant that Roddy Grant’s late try couldn’t deny the Blues a first league win since New Year’s Day. The result means the Welsh side leapfrog Newport Gwent Dragons in the table and are now just one place behind their opponents, who missed a chance to close the gap on the top six. Seeking to arrest a three-game losing slump in the GUINNESS PRO12, which included a disheartening 40-24 loss to Treviso last time out, Cardiff made seven changes to their starting XV. And those changes seemed to galvanise the hosts as they had the better of a cagey opening at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park. Blues kicker Patchell had a golden opportunity to open the scoring after 14 minutes but pushed his penalty wide of the uprights in blustery conditions. However, the Welsh side didn’t rue that miss for long as Williams picked the ball up at the back of a ruck in the Edinburgh 22, threw a clever dummy and slipped through the static defence for the try – Patchell adding the extras. With Williams orchestrating proceedings from scrum-half, Cardiff continued to look the more dangerous although their job became tougher on 26 minutes as No.8 Manoa Vosawai was sin-binned for a high tackle. But Jade Te Rure let the home side off the hook as he missed the resulting penalty from in front of the posts and Edinburgh were soon also down to 14 men as Mike Coman saw yellow for persistent infringing. And once Vosawai was back in the fray, Cardiff made the most of their one-man advantage with a vintage try to take a 14-0 lead into half-time – Evans diving over after a series of offloads, the last coming from Ellis Jenkins. Edinburgh finally got on the board shortly after the break with a 45-metre Tom Heathcote penalty and thought they had narrowed the gap further through Neil Cochrane but the TMO ruled the hooker was held up over the line. Alan Solomons’ troops did get the try they deserved on 54 minutes however, when Heathcote’s pass released Visser who scythed through the defence to race over – Heathcote nailing the conversion. With the gap now only four points, Edinburgh looked revitalised but Patchell landed a potential hammer blow just after the hour mark as he touched down in the corner after Cardiff took advantage of an overlap. The 21-year-old’s successful conversion of his own score took him past 100 points for the season but the Scottish side ensured a grandstand finale. Less than a minute after Cardiff flanker Josh Turnbull was sin-binned, an inexorable driving maul ended with Grant dotting down for his third GUINNESS PRO12 try of the season. Heathcote failed to add the conversion and despite concerted late pressure, Edinburgh failed to leave with more than a losing bonus point. Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
