Cardiff Blues secure second triumph in Heineken Cup against London Irish - Rugby News
Cardiff Blues overpowered London Irish by 24-18 on November 18 at Cardiff City Stadium and sealed the second spot on the ladder among the other Pool 2 teams. Dan Parks played a vital role in his team’s victory with 14 individual points. He kicked four penalties
and one conversion goal for Blues to register the second consecutive win in the ongoing Heineken Cup 2011-12.
Tom Homer, the full-back for London Irish, played a superb match for his team but could not save them from collapse. He scored all 18 points for his team on six well directed penalty kicks but the lack of team support led them to close off the defeat at
24-18.
Cardiff Blues thus became the second team to win all Pool matches after Edinburgh and grabbed second position on the ladder. Meanwhile, London Irish has slumped into a greater state of helplessness with yet another defeat in the tournament as they failed
to taste victory after two outings.
The Cardiff Blues dominated from the start of the match as Dan Parks set the rapid tone of the game with a quick three pointer in the third minute to give his side an ideal start. They were leading the clash by 10-0 just after seven minutes of play and enjoyed
an unanswered lead until the 25th minute when Homer scored first penalty goal for London Irish. They bounced back in the match with a couple of more well directed kicks from their full-back and reduced the point’s difference to 13-9 two minutes
before the interval.
However, Blues extended their lead to 18-9 before going into break as Lloyd Williams danced through the rusty defence of London Irish. Second half did not make any difference for the trailing side as the Blues ran away with another triumph of 24-18.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tau
Filise, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 John Yapp, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Maama Molitika, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Gavin Evans.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Steven Shingler, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Dan Bowden, 9 Ross Samson, 8 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Richard Thorpe, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Matthew Garvey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan
Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Paulica Ion, 19 James Sandford, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Jonathan Spratt, 22 Adrian Jarvis, 23 Paul Hodgson.
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