European Club Rugby : Cardiff Blues v Toulouse

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Imanol Harinordoquy (43%)
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Cardiff Blues v Toulouse

Cardiff Blues	15 - 9	Toulouse
Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff Att: 10,511
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon
Saturday 12th December 2009, 15:45
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Ben Blair scored four penalties for the Blues

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Match report

Ben Blair kicked 12 points to steer Cardiff Blues to a crucial victory over pool rivals Toulouse.

The Blues full-back landed four penalties and though Leigh Halfpenny added a crucial fifth kick two minutes from time, it was Blair's late catch and clearance that sealed the win.

Florian Fritz, Frederic Michalak and David Skrela all struck for Toulouse but a raft of handling errors saw the French giants slip to their first Heineken Cup defeat of the season.

Cardiff defeated the same opponents in last season's quarter-final and this win went some way to keeping alive their hopes of progressing to that stage again from a fiercly contested Pool Five that includes Harlequins and Sale Sharks.

They led 6-0 at half-time through two Blair penalties though there were times when they rode their luck as an all-star French back-line misfired in the cold.

The unlikely boot of Martyn Williams came closest to creating the game's first try. The canny flanker spotted Leigh Halfpenny lurking out wide but Shaun Sowerby galloped across to side-foot the ball out of play as the Wales wing bore down to score.

The Blues lost an edge in attack when Tom Shanklin left the field mid-way through the first half though Toulouse' handling errors failed to make possession count and Blair opened a 9-0 lead four minutes into the second half.

Fritz and Blair exchanged further kicks in a game of precious few scoring opportunities before Michalak and replacement Skrela set up a tense final ten minutes as 12-9. Fritz missed the chance to equalise before Halfpenny settled it late on.

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Cardiff Blues

Toulouse

Pos

Player

Pos

Ben Blair

Maxime Medard

Leigh Halfpenny

Vincent Clerc

Tom Shanklin

Florian Fritz

Jamie Roberts

Yannick Jauzion

Tom James

Cédric Heymans

Sam Norton-Knight

Frédéric Michalak

Gareth Cooper

Nicolas Bezy

Gethin Jenkins

Yohan Montes

Gareth Williams

William Servat

Faao Filise

Census Johnston

Deiniol Jones

Romain Millo-Chluski

Paul Tito (capt)

Patricio Albacete

Andy Powell

Thierry Dusautoir (capt)

Martyn Williams

Louis Picamoles

Xavier Rush

Shaun Sowerby

Replacements

T Rhys Thomas

Virgile Lacombe

Sam Hobbs

Daan Human

Gary Powell

Jean-Baptiste Poux

Scott Morgan

Grégory Lamboley

Sam Warburton

Yoann Maestri

Richie Rees

David Skrela

Ceri Sweeney

Clément Poitrenaud

Dafydd Hewitt

Yves Donguy

Penalty Tries

First half timeline
8	Cardiff Blues	Penalty kick - B Blair
24	Cardiff Blues	Blood sub - S Warburton on for X Rush
27	Cardiff Blues	Substitution - D Hewitt on for T Shanklin
30	Cardiff Blues	Blood sub - S Morgan on for P Tito
33	Cardiff Blues	Penalty kick - B Blair
33	Cardiff Blues	Blood sub - X Rush on for S Warburton
38	Cardiff Blues	Blood sub - P Tito on for S Morgan
Second half timeline
45	Cardiff Blues	Penalty kick - B Blair
46	Toulouse	Substitution - V Lacombe on for W Servat
46	Toulouse	Substitution - J Poux on for Y Montes
53	Toulouse	Penalty kick - F Fritz
53	Toulouse	Substitution - D Skrela on for N Bezy
57	Toulouse	Substitution - C Poitrenaud on for M Medard
59	Toulouse	Substitution - G Lamboley on for L Picamoles
63	Cardiff Blues	Penalty kick - B Blair
65	Toulouse	Substitution - D Human on for C Johnston
65	Cardiff Blues	Substitution - S Morgan on for D Jones
65	Cardiff Blues	Substitution - C Sweeney on for S Norton-Knight
66	Toulouse	Penalty kick - F Michalak
67	Toulouse	Substitution - Y Maestri on for R Millo-Chluski
69	Cardiff Blues	Substitution - S Warburton on for A Powell
71	Toulouse	Drop kick - D Skrela
73	Cardiff Blues	Substitution - T Thomas on for G Williams
76	Toulouse	Substitution - Y Donguy on for F Fritz
79	Cardiff Blues	Penalty kick - L Halfpenny

Results so far

Cardiff Blues

Date	Stage	Opposition	Score
24/1/10	Pool 5	Harlequins	W 45-20
16/1/10	Pool 5	Sale Sharks	W 36-19
19/12/09	Pool 5	Toulouse	L 7-23
12/12/09	Pool 5	Toulouse	W 15-9
16/10/09	Pool 5	Sale Sharks	L 26-27
10/10/09	Pool 5	Harlequins	W 20-6

Toulouse

Date	Stage	Opposition	Score
22/5/10	Final	Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque	W 21-19
1/5/10	Semi Finals	Leinster	W 26-16
11/4/10	Quarter Finals	Stade Francais Paris	W 42-16
24/1/10	Pool 5	Sale Sharks	W 19-13
17/1/10	Pool 5	Harlequins	W 33-21
19/12/09	Pool 5	Cardiff Blues	W 23-7
12/12/09	Pool 5	Cardiff Blues	L 9-15
17/10/09	Pool 5	Harlequins	W 23-19
11/10/09	Pool 5	Sale Sharks	W 36-17

Previous Heineken Cup meetings

Date	Stage	Home	Score	Away
Sat 19th Dec 09	Pool 5	Toulouse	23 - 7	Cardiff Blues
Sat 12th Dec 09	Pool 5	Cardiff Blues	15 - 9	Toulouse
Sat 11th Apr 09	Quarter Finals	Cardiff Blues	9 - 6	Toulouse
Sun 6th Apr 08	Quarter Finals	Toulouse	41 - 17	Cardiff Blues
Sat 20th Jan 01	Pool 3	Toulouse	38 - 27	Cardiff Blues
Sat 14th Oct 00	Pool 3	Cardiff Blues	26 - 17	Toulouse
Sat 19th Oct 96	Pool D	Toulouse	36 - 20	Cardiff Blues
Sun 7th Jan 96	Final	Cardiff Blues	18 - 21	Toulouse

Heineken CupHistory

Cardiff Blues

2009/10 - Pool 5

2008/09 - Semi Finals

2007/08 - Quarter Finals

2006/07 - Pool 4

2005/06 - Pool 2

2004/05 - Pool 6

2003/04 - Pool 3

2002/03 - Pool 6

2001/02 - Pool 5

2000/01 - Quarter Finals

1999/00 - Quarter Finals

1997/98 - Quarter Finals

1996/97 - Semi Finals

1995/96 - Runners up

Toulouse

2009/10 - Champions

2008/09 - Quarter Finals

2007/08 - Runners up

2006/07 - Pool 5

2005/06 - Quarter Finals

2004/05 - Champions

2003/04 - Runners up

2002/03 - Champions

2001/02 - Pool 6

2000/01 - Pool 3

1999/00 - Semi Finals

1998/99 - Quarter Finals

1997/98 - Semi Finals

1996/97 - Semi Finals

1995/96 - Champions

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