Cardiff Blues 13
Leinster 16
LEINSTER DUG DEEP and defended for their lives in order to rob a second Welsh region of their unbeaten Guinness PRO12 record in the space of eight days.
Irish referee Dudley Phillips got the bird from the Welsh crowd after his 70th minute decision to yellow card Josh Navidi paved the way for Leinster skipper Jonathan Sexton to step up and kick the winning penalty.
Jamison Gibson-Park cleverly passed the ball into the replacement flanker as he headed back to the defensive line and Philips not only awarded a penalty, but also issued the yellow card. Jonathan Sexton kicked the penalty and Leinster won a titanic tussle.
The Blues hammered away at the Leinster line in the closing stages, but the Irish defensive line stood firm and emerged with a very good win.
Sexton opened the scoring after 18 minutes with a penalty off the home 22, but was wide from 45 metres a few minutes later. His opposite number Gareth Anscombe made no mistake from 10 metres closer moments later to open the Blues’ account.
That score boosted the home confidence and within five minutes they had taken the lead thanks to a powerful rip at a ruck by Nick Williams and Ellis Jenkins. A quick pass to Anscombe allowed the Blues No 10 to beat the first line of defence and then pin back his ears and race 30 metres to the line for a try which he also converted.
He then added a penalty from a few metres inside the Leinster half and all of a sudden there was a 10 point gap at the beak. That was reduced when Sexton kicked a 45th-minute penalty and the scores were levelled at 13-13 after 50 minutes when Rhys Ruddock drove over from a five metre line-out for a try which Sexton improved.
Anscombe was wide from long range as Cardiff threatened to make it five wins in a row, but then came Phillips’ controversial decision with his penalty and yellow card for lazy running. Up stepped Sexton and over went the winning penalty.
Cardiff Blues: M Morgan (D Fish 41); B Scully, C Allen (S Shingler 65), R Lee-Lo, T James; G Anscombe, L Williams (T Williams 70); G Jenkins (captain, R Gill 55), K Dacey (M Rees 55), T Filise (S Andrews 41), G Earle (M Cook 24), J Turnbull, S Warburton (J Navidi 15), E Jenkins, N Williams
Scorers: Tries: G Anscombe; Cons: G Anscombe; Pens: G Anscombe 2
Leinster: Z Kirchner; F McFadden (J Carbery 72), R O’Loughlin, N Reid, D Kearney (B Daly 41); J Sexton (captain), J Gibson-Park; J McGrath (P Dooley 66), J Tracy (S Cronin 51), M Ross (M Bent 51), M Kearney (D Toner 51), I Nagle, D Leavy, J van der Flier (J Heaslip 60), R Ruddock
Replacement Unused: N McCarthy,
Scorers: Tries: R Ruddock; Cons: J Sexton; Pens: J Sexton 3
Star Man: Jonathan Sexton (Leinster)
Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)
Attendance: 8,289