London Irish 15 - 22 Cardiff: Blues match Edinburgh on points as Exiles play for pride

Edinburgh will face a London Irish team with nothing but pride to play for in their last Heineken pool match next Sunday afternoon, after the Exiles fell to the Blues yesterday afternoon in Reading.

Cardiff got the win and the four points that come with it to draw level with Edinburgh on 17 points at the top of the pool but they made heavy weather of it, trailing at half time and only fitfully hitting their stride in an improved second half performance. After the thrills and spills of Friday evening this pool 2 match was stodgy stuff in comparison and only a truly committed fan could generate much enthusiasm.

After the two teams shared five first half penalties, three of which went to the home side, the first (and last) try of the match was scored by Wales flanker Sam Warburton almost immediately the second 40 got under way. It came courtesy of centre Casey Laulala who made a searing outside break, rounded Delon Armitage like the one-time England full-back wasn’t there and offloaded a yard or so shy of the line. Armitage showed both sides of his Jekyll and Hyde character, stopping a sure-fire try in the first half by rushing out of the defensive line but his attempted tackle on Laulala was risible.

The match briefly threatened to burst into life after the five-pointer but it proved a false dawn as things quickly reverted to type with a host of errors resulting in scrums which inevitably collapsed. Both teams kicked a brace of penalties each which meant the Blues took a four point lead into the final 15 minutes, lending the game a vicarious excitement on the score board that the on-field action failed to provide.

Irish finally raised a head of steam and strung a few phases together, threatening to score the match-winning try in the final ten minutes but the Blues defence stayed where it had been all day, firmly on top of the home attack.

Instead the final points of the match went to Leigh Halfpenny who kicks for Cardiff ahead of Dan Parks. The full-back slotted his fifth penalty two minutes from time and his team closed out the game without further ado.

Steven Shingler made a brief appearance for Irish and the Welsh under-20 cap, who appeared in Andy Robinson’s Scotland squad before being declared ineligible by the IRB, impressed in the eight short minutes he was granted with several strong carries and a good pair of hands. Scotland’s loss may yet be Wales’ gain.

Presuming that the Blues take four points against Racing Metro next weekend, Edinburgh will need to grab a four-try bonus against Irish if they want to top the pool and avoid the likes of Munster, Leinster or Toulouse in the quarter-finals. Right now Michael Bradley’s team will be focusing on the win rather than any extras.