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Rugby Union

Cardiff ease to Quins win

11/01/2008

Cardiff Blues moved to the top of the Heineken Cup Pool 3 after a comfortable 23-12 win over Harlequins at Cardiff Arms Park.

Although, both teams scored two tries, it was the kicking of Cardiff's Ben Blair, who kicked two conversions and three penalties, which was the difference between the teams.

The home side dominated early on and after Blair had kicked a penalty, Dafydd Hewitt scored the first try of the game after he was set free by Martyn Williams. Blair added the two points to give the Blues a 10-0 lead.

Harlequins' reply came at the start of the second-half as full-back Mike Brown showed tremendous power and pace to beat two tackles and passed the ball to Hal Lascombe who crashed over. Chris Malone added the two points to make the score 10-7.

But the Blues stretched their lead once again as Blair kicked two more penalties. The home side then went further ahead as their forwards used their power to secure a maul and centre Tom Shanklin touched the ball down for the try. Blair added the conversion to make the score 23-7.

Brown added a late try to make the score a little respectable, but in truth it was an easy win for Cardiff.

Cardiff will definitely qualify for the quarter-finals if they win away at Bristol in the final game of the group. Bristol suffered a 19-11 loss at Stade Francais this evening.

Elsewhere, Ulster claimed a memorable 25-24 win over Bourgoin in the Heineken Cup this evening but still finished bottom of their pool.

It looked as if Ulster would finish their campaign without a win as Bourgoin moved to a commanding 17-6 first-half lead after tries from Mathieu Nicolas, Florian Denos and Remi Vigmeaux.

But backed by a buoyant crowd at the Ravenhill stadium Ulster made a remarkable comeback. Fly-half David Humphreys created an opening for Tommy Bowe and the winger crashed over to get his side back in the game.

Bourgoin hit back though as Augusto Petrilli cut through the Ulster defence to score a try and increase his side's lead once again.

Scrum-half Paul Marshall got Ulster back in the game when he dived into the corner to score before centre Andrew Trimble touched down for the match-winning try.