By Kasey Rees
Cardiff Blues survived a scare from Benetton Rugby as they held on to beat the Italians 34-24 in a thrilling encounter at Cardiff Arms Park.
The Blues only got their noses in front in the final 10 minutes as tries for Jason Harries, Garyn Smith, Ryan Edwards, Seb Davies and Lewis Jones finally broke the Italians’ spirit.
Benetton earned a try bonus point through scores from Ian Keatley, Irne Herbst, and two for Toa Halafihi, while Jason Tovey kicked a crucial nine points for the home side.
The Blues came into the match hoping to put their disappointing 29-0 defeat against Connacht last weekend firmly behind them.
The Blues had won the reverse fixture in Italy last November, 31-28, and completing the double against tough opponents pleased head coach John Mulvihill.
“We got back to playing the way we had prepared in the week and we did well with the ball in the second half,” said Mulvihill.
“We scored 24 points to five which was a massive turnaround to get back to what we are good at. We put them under a lot of pressure, so that they ran out of steam towards the end of the game. We got to where we needed to be.
“Our performance was massive today and the boys really wanted the win.”
Benetton dominated the first half, as they penetrated a poor home defence and were first on the scoresheet with a try from captain Keatley. He missed the opportunity to convert his own try.
It was mistakes that let the Blues down, as they failed to exploit and utilise the space they had out wide and also gave away too many penalties.
But patience paid off for the home side as Harries crossed the line in the 24th minute for the Blues’ first try of the game.
The try was successfully converted by Tovey, but it wasn’t enough to take the lead at the break. It was the visitors who had the bragging rights as they ran into a comfortable 19-7 lead.
The second half had plenty of entertainment as the Blues were first on the score sheet with Smith going over, but it was the sin-binning of Benetton captain Keatley that changed the tempo of the match.
After he went – for a deliberate knock-on – the Blues seized control.
The highlight of the match was Tovey’s beautiful cross-field kick, to set up Edwards with the second try of the half. Tovey then successfully converted the kick bringing the Blues level at 19-19.
But despite being a man down, Benneton gave their best efforts and added to their tally as Halafihi crossed the line.
Lloyd Williams brought the scores level, after stretching his arm over the line following good Blues work in the tight.
Tovey converted, taking the Blues ahead for second time in the half. But it was Lewis Jones who sealed the win for his side, as he dived over the line just a minute after Seb Davies had scored the bonus point try.
Man of the match Josh Turnball said: “We made it hard for ourselves in the first half, giving them possession which caused us a few problems.
“We corrected that in the second half by kicking more, putting the pressure on them and scoring some decent tries and we were able to come away with a good win in the end.”
Cardiff Blues are currently fifth in the Guinness Pro 14 conference B table, and after getting a bonus point win here, they travel to Scotland to face Edinburgh at Murrayfield on Friday.
Turnball is feeling positive about the trip up north and added: “It’s a short turnaround of five days before the Edinburgh game so we will work hard in the next coming days in training.
“It’s important for us to go up there next week and be excited about it. We have done okay up there in previous years.
“If we get our game plan right and switch on mentally, then we will be in a good place.”
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)
Attendance: 5,808
Cardiff Blues: 15, Hallam Amos, 14, Jason Harries, 13, Garyn Smith, 12, Ben Thomas, 11, Ryan Edwards, 10, Jason Tovey, 9, Lloyd Williams © (65), 1, Rhys Gill (30), 2, Liam Belcher (58), 3, Scott Andrews (63), 4, James Ratti (40), 5, Seb Davies, 6, Shane Lewis-Hughes (58), 7, Olly Robinson, 8, Josh Turnball.
Replacements: 16, Kristian Dacey (58), 17, Brad Thyer (30), 18, Dmitri Arhip (63), 19, Rory Thornton (40), 20, Will Boyde (58), 21, Lewis Jones (65), 22, Max Llewellyn (79), 23, Dan Fish.
Benetton Rugby: 15, Luca Sperandio, 14, Angelo Esposito, 13, Ignacio Brex, 12, Marco Zanon, 11, Monty Ioane, 10, Ian Keatley © (71), 9, Charly Trussardi (58), 1, Nicola Quagio, (58) 2, Tomos Baravalle(58), 3, Tiziano Pasquali (-1), 4, Irne Herbst, 5, Eli Snyman (79), 6, Michelle Lamaro (40), 7, Frederico Ruzza, 8, Toa Halafihi.
Replacements: 16, Epalahame Faiva (58), 17, Cherif Traore (58), 18, Simone Ferrari (-1), 19, Marco Fuser (79), 20, Nasi Manu (40), 21, Luca Pettozzi (58), 22, Ian McKinley (54), 23, Tommaso Benvenuti (71)