Gunners Avenge Last Seasons Celtic Catastrophe
4 October 2003 - Edinburgh 33 Cardiff Blues 16
Cardiff came to Edinburgh this afternoon looking to repeat their great escape of a year ago, when they overcame a big half-time deficit to win the Celtic quarter-final at Meadowbank 26-22. The Gunners appeared to spend much of the second half of that game asleep, and had only themselves to blame as they were mugged by a gutsy Cardiff side. A Celtic League season that had begun so promisingly ended in disappointment.
This year, Edinburgh's mantra must surely be "no more Cardiffs." The Gunners' victory over Leinster in Dublin a week ago owed as much to their dogged determination and a fiery will to win as it did to silky skills. They are learning to be more clinical when they have the upper hand.
Edinburgh made three changes to the team that triumphed in Donnybrook, with Hugo Southwell and Marcus di Rollo coming in for Conan Sharman and Craig Joiner. The squad rotation also saw Rory Lawson taking over from Graeme Burns at scrum-half. It was good to see Marcus back after the long-term knee injury he sustained during the win in Belfast last year, and the knock he picked up in the pre-season against Wakefield. Unfortunately his place on the treatment table has been taken by fellow centre Ali Dickson, one of last season's unsung heroes, who is likely to be unable to train or play for a maximum of three months following knee surgery after the Borders game. Everyone in the Supporters Club wishes Ali a speedy recovery.
Edinburgh again made a slow start. Brendan Laney's opening kick-off failed to get over the 10 metre line and things went downhill from there for the Gunners in the opening quarter. Although not playing with the same verve that we saw from Leinster last weekend, Cardiff's big pack nevertheless kept the pressure on Edinburgh. Although the Gunners looked dangerous when they had the ball, they didn't see much of it as the Blues retained possession well. The strong westerly wind was also causing Edinburgh some problems.
Nick Robinson, Cardiff's stand-off, opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a penalty awarded for an Edinburgh offside. Although Edinburgh were not doing a great deal in attack, they were defending well. Their defence was breached on the 14th minute, though, when a Cardiff maul rumbled over the line and loosehead Ken Fourie touched down. Robinson's conversion made it 10-0 Cardiff.
The Gunners hit back on the 23rd minute with a fine try by di Rollo after Hugo Southwell's break up the left touchline and good linking play by Tom Philip, Laney slotting the conversion. Edinburgh were beginning to win more ball and Southwell and Webster were looking dangerous on the wings. Blackadder was taking second phase ball at stand off to tie in the Cardiff pack. The Blues hit back with an excellent break by left wing Craig Morgan, which was only halted on the Edinburgh line. Edinburgh were penalised in the ensuing ruck, and Robinson kicked an easy penalty to make it 13-7 Cardiff.
The next score would be crucial, and when di Rollo was slightly harshly yellow carded outside the Blues' 22 for holding on in the tackle after another excellent break by Philip, it seemed like Cardiff might add to their lead. But a wayward clearance by Robinson went to Lee on the halfway line. The fullback juggled the ball a little, beat three tacklers and set sail down the right wing. The ball went left to Dall, then Blackadder in the Cardiff 22. And who cruised in to take the scoring pass but Allan Jacobsen. Not quite shades of Dougie Hall's excellent try against the Borders at Netherdale earlier in the year, but a spectacular score nonetheless. "Chunky" is turning into a bit of a poacher, having scored five tries last season and two already this term.
As the game went into injury time, Edinburgh were still down to fourteen men, but seemed to be finding plenty of space. Southwell picked up the ball in the Gunners' 22, broke a few tackles and fed di Rollo just outside the Cardiff 22. A clever offload saw Tom Philip over in the corner for another Edinburgh try. This time Laney couldn't quite make the conversion, leaving the half-time score 19-13 in Edinburgh's favour.
Edinburgh seemed a different, more purposeful team in the second half. The back three were attacking from all over the field, with another Southwell break from the Edinburgh 22 almost going all the way. Webster even sent a memorable American Football-style pass to Lee outside the Gunners' 22 - the stuff of coaches' nightmares, but the crowd loved it. But another Robinson penalty made the margin, at 19-16, too close for comfort.
The Gunners hit back with a real forwards' try just after the hour, with the pack taking a maul over the Cardiff line and Joel Brannigan emerging from the wreckage with the ball. Although Laney kicked the difficult conversion from the corner, he twisted his ankle in doing so and made way for Ali Warnock.
As Edinburgh gained the advantage, the niggle that had been simmering away for most of the game erupted in a couple of handbagging sessions. Though the referee took no action immediately, Morgan was subsequently yellow carded in the 74th minute for foul play. If Cardiff had an uphill task as a result, their chances of winning disappeared when Gareth Williams followed him a minute later for deliberately taking down a maul five metres from the Cardiff line. Edinburgh took full advantage as Lawson alertly nipped over in the corner on 77 minutes after another close range maul collapsed just short of the tryline. A fine conversion by Warnock made the final score 33-16 to Edinburgh.
Brendan Laney's comments after no-side summed up the game for Edinburgh: "We did some good things, we did some poor things." On the credit side, Edinburgh played some expansive rugby, took their chances, and in the end were worthy winners. Their mauling became more effective the longer the game went on and they didn't panic when ten points down early in the game. There will be some concern that the lineout, which performed so well in Dublin, was shaky at times, and the Gunners have started the last two games at a fairly sedate pace. But Edinburgh can look forward to their Celtic Cup semi-final, away to Connacht in mid-November, with some confidence.
Next up for the Gunners are the impressive Llanelli Scarlets in a top-of-the-table Celtic League clash at Meadowbank on Friday, 10 October. Last year's game saw a comfortable 38-14 Edinburgh victory. This time, Gunners fans will be hoping that it'll be, in Yogi Berra's famous phrase, "Déjà vu all over again".
MAN OF THE MATCH:
TODD BLACKADDER. But there were again a number of fine performances, with Hugo Southwell looking like a good acquisition, and Simon Webster making some dangerous breaks. Tom Philip continues to impress, and the back row has gelled into a very effective unit.
Read Bill Lothian's verdict in the Evening News - http://www.sport.scotsman.com/rugby_superteams.cfm
For a Cardiff reaction visit www.cardiffblues.com
Scorers: Edinburgh: Laney 3C, Warnock 1C, di Rollo 1T, Jacobsen 1T, Brannigan 1T,
Lawson 1T
Cardiff: Nick Robinson 3P, 1C, Fourie 1T
Edinburgh team: D Lee; H Southwell, M di Rollo, T Philip, S Webster; B Laney, R Lawson; A Jacobsen, A Kelly (di Ciacca 61), C Smith (Brannigan 45), G Perrett, A Kellock (Pike 66), T Blackadder (capt), A Dall, S Cross (Hogg 53). Substitutes: C di Ciacca, J Brannigan, N Pike, A Hogg, G Burns, A Warnock, C Joiner
Cardiff team: Donavan van Vuuren; Lee Abdul, Nick Walne, Jamie Robinson, Craig Morgan; Nick Robinson, Ryan Powell; Kenneth Fourie (Crompton 40), Andrew Lewis (capt) (Williams 61), Ben Evans, Dan McShane, Jim Brownrigg, Rob Appleyard, Nathan Thomas (Malpas), Dan Baugh (Sowden-Taylor 14). Substitutes: Darren Crompton, Gareth Williams, James Goode, Robin Sowden-Taylor, James Malpas, Andrew Moore, Gareth McCarthy
Referee: Simon McDowell (Ireland)