Finished
32
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15
Cardiff Blues
Sale Sharks
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Live Commentary
Time:80'- Cardiff Blues
- Sale Sharks
80' Ref blows for full-time and Cardiff get their EDF Energy Cup campaign off to an impressive winning start. Sale were better in the second half but the result was never in doubt after the Blues' blistering opening. Thanks for joining us.
80' White makes one last burst for the Blues, the ball is recycled and Robinson puts over an inch-perfect cross kick for James to gather easily and go over under the posts. 32-15. Nice finish by Cardiff.- 79' Thomas gather a chip and provides a superb pass to put Lamont clear and the Scotland win beats two tackles to go in from 60m for an excellent Sale try. Well played the visitors but it's merely a consolation. 27-15.
76' Hodgson tries a little chip out of defence but McLeod is wise to it and sets up a Blues attack. Rees puts White clear but the ball is dislodged as he goes for the line.
70' Hanley on for Ripol as Molitika breaks through the Sale defence.- 70' Mayor starting to find a few gaps in the Blues midfield but not yet been able to find his support runners.
- 70' Sale enjoying more possession now but it looks all a little too late for the visitors.
- 67' Lovely interpassing between Laharrague and Bruno and the ball comes back and Thomas juggles the pass before scoring under the posts. Well played by Sale with Laharrague especially finding the gaps. 27-8.
64' Lovely hands by Hodgson puts Cox into a bit of space and the lock makes some yards as Sale look to try and get the first score of the second half. Hills continues the move as Sale retain possesion and continue the attack.- 63' The game has lost a bit of its fizz with the replacements coming on but Blues are still looking to try and run it at every opportunity.
- 62' Sidoli on for Tito.
- 59' Lovely cross kick by Hodgson for Ripol but the wing just fails to gather the ball and Blues launch another attack into Sale's half.
- 57' Molitika comes back on and Blues are back to 15 men.
- 56' Blues win lineout on Sale's 22m line and set up a rolling maul. Home side go through a couple of phases but this time Sale keep them out.
- 52' Evans on for Bourrust.
- 48' Blues scrum breaks up and Sale move the ball wide. But the defence is good and they turn the ball over and Shanklin belts it downfield. Lamont gathers and Sale launch an attack through Ripol, Laharrague and Thomas, who is hauled down superbly by Sowden-Taylor. That's much better from the visitors.
45' Sale being very direct and making some inroads and earn a penalty when Molitika kills the ball. Quite rightly the ref sin bins the big Blues flanker. Sale opt for another scrum.- 43' Certainly Sale are showing more intent as they batter the Blues line. Ref has given Sale another penalty and warned Blues skipper Rush that the next infringement will receive a yellow card. Sale opt for the scrum, but Spice intercepts pass from Bonner-Evans!
- 43' Apparantly Sale's head coach Phillipe Saint-Andre gave his players a roasting at half-time so expect a better effort from his side in this half.
- 42' Sale win a penalty at the scrum and again kick for the corner. Can they get an early score in this half and get themselves back in the game?
- 41' Mayor on for Keil and Macleod for Shanklin.
41' Blues get the game restarted and Jones makes a good break up field for Sale to set up a good attacking position.- 40' Loose pass by Bruno and the Blues kick up field only for Laharrague to counter again. Sale producing some nice passes out of the tackle but the ball is finally spilled and the Blues kick for touch and ref blows for half-time. A fabulous 40 minutes of running rugby by the home side and Sale have it all to do after the interval. 27-3.
- 38' Good lineout from Sale and Bruno makes some hard yards towards the Blues try line. Hodgson finds Ripol with a superb pass but the defence is good and the Blues manage to clear the danger.
- 37' Hodgson is short with a drop goal but the fly-half knew Sale had a penalty for Blues handling in a ruck. Three points aren't enough so Hodgson drills the ball into the corner for a sale lineout.
- 35' Laharrague tries to counter but he gives a poor pass and the ball is knocked on. Things not going the way of Sale this evening!
- 32' Day is on for the injured Schofield.
30' Robinson adds another conversion to make it 27-3.- 29' Blues are on fire here and running everything. Gareth Thomas makes another break, Spice puts Blair through, Hodgson nails the full-back but Rush is on hand to take a pop pass and go over for their fourth try. Fabulous rugby! 25-3.
- 26' Nice break by Hodgson down the right but Blues turn over the ball and move it wide quickly. Gareth Thomas is put clear down the other wing and the powerful centre goes over in the corner despite the lunging tackle of Laharrague. Ref goes upstairs but the try looks good on the replays and the try is awarded. 20-3. Lovely rugby by the Welsh team with Rush featuring.
- 24' Blues have enjoyed an excellent first quarter here and Sale are going to have to dig deep to avoid a big defeat.
- 22' Robinson makes it 15-3.
- 21' Blues keep the pressure on and Gareth Thomas makes the most of weak Sale defence to burst through and score his first try for Cardiff. 13-3.
- 20' Another superb move to set up James and the in-form wing beats a couple of tackles and it takes Hodgson cover again to prevent another try.
- 19' Intentional flap down by Sale's Chris Jones earns Blues their first penalty of the evening. Robinson adds the three points to make it 8-3.
- 16' NO mistakes by Thomas as Sale cut Blues lead to 5-3. Thomas taking kick as Hodgson has taken a knock.
- 14' Nice take by Lamont enables the Sharks to regroup and set up a decent chance but the Scotland winger just fails to touch down before the ball goes dead. But the ref calls them back for a late tackle by Spice on Laharrague and the Sharks have a 25m penalty chance.
- 11' Blues driving well in midfield with Gareth Thomas and Shanklin featuring heavily. Wing James is put clear on the wing and kicks ahead but Hodgson just beats him to the ball to prevent another try for the Welsh team. Lovely take and give by Sowden-Taylor put James into space.
- 9' Laharrague is dispossesed by Gareth Thomas after a decent move by Sale and Blair kicks the Blues downfield and puts the pressure back on Sale. But Sale are awarded penalty for Blues handling in the ruck.
- 7' Sebastien Bruno is in the Sale side this evening, fresh from his efforts for France at the World Cup, and the Sharks will need all his muscularity to help halt this early onslaught by the home side. But Sale have won a penalty and Hodgson kicks them into the Blues' 22.
- 4' Superb break from the base of the scrum by lock Jones sets up his scrum-half Spice who just manages to reach over despite the tackle of Hodgson. Ref goes up stairs but there are no problems with the touchdown. 5-0 Cardiff!
- 3' Nice half-break in midfield by Molitika keeps the pressure on the visitors and the Blues are awarded a scrum around the halfway mark. They are certainly testing the Sharks defence in the early stages!
1' Charlie Hodgson gets the game underway and the Blues immediately spread the ball wide and only a big tackle by Rory Lamont prevents Rush from setting up a try. Great start for the Welsh side!- - The Blues have their World Cup stars back with Wales skipper Gareth Thomas partnering his international team-mate Tom Shanklin in midfield.
- - Good evening and welcome to Eurosport's live online coverage of the first round of the EDF Energy Cup featuring Cardiff Blues and Sale.
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Summary
Cardiff Blues versus Sale Sharks Spice 4’, Thomas 21’, 26’, Rush 29’, Thomas 67’, James 80’ Tries Lamont 78’ Robinson 21’, 30’, Thomas 68’ Conversions Thomas 16’, Robinson 19’ Penalties Drops
Live Team Line-Up
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Cardiff Blues
Manager: David Young
On the Field
- Jenkins
- Thomas
- Powell
- Jones
- Tito
- Molitika
- Sowden-Taylor
- Rush
- Spice
- Robinson
- Thomas ×2
- Roberts
- Shanklin
- James
- Blair
Subs
- Williams
- Williams
- Sidoli
- Rees
- Yapp
- White
- MacLeod
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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Sale Sharks
Manager: Philippe Saint-André
On the Field
- Faure
- Bruno
- Bourrust
- Schofield
- Cox
- Jones
- Lund
- Bonner-Evans
- Martens
- Hodgson
- Ripol
- Thomas
- Keil
- Lamont
- Laharrague
Subs
- Evans
- Seveali'i
- Day
- Wigglesworth
- Mayor
- Briggs
- Hills
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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