Ulster Rugby vs Cardiff Blues

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Just five rounds into the new
domestic season and Cardiff Blues
will have already faced all four of the
Irish provinces away from home.
Head Coach Danny Wilson –
installed in the hotseat at BT Sport
Cardiff Arms Park in the summer
– opened the new season with a
convincing bonus point win over
Zebre as new-look Cardiff Blues ran
in 11 tries.
But with the artificial pitch at the
region’s iconic Arms Park home then
transformed into an Official Fanzone
for the Rugby World Cup, Blues have
been on the road – and plane over to
Ireland - ever since.
Cardiff Blues were handed the
unenviable task of facing five of the
first six rounds of competition being
away – but they have tackled the
Irish challenge head-on.
The RDS Arena was first up as
Cardiff Blues pushed Leinster all
the way with in-form fly half Rhys
Patchell kicking them ahead late
in the game before a rally saw the
Dubliners run out 23-15 winners.
Then came Galway with a late try
from prop Sam Hobbs – for the
second successive season at The
Sportsground - ensuring Blues left
defeated but with two bonus points
in the bag.
Last weekend they visited Cork and
gave Munster a huge scare with a
thrilling attacking brand of rugby
seeing them surge ahead, after
tries from Tavis Knoyle, Richard
Smith and Tom Isaacs, before a late
surge sent the home side top and
unbeaten.
So there has been plenty for new
boss Wilson to be pleased about
in the opening weeks with Cardiff
Blues showing new attacking
flair – they are the top try scorers
in the Guinness PRO12 – and
new defensive resolve since the
introduction of coach Graham
Steadman.
With Wales exiting the Rugby World
Cup late on to the Springboks last
weekend, there will also be the return
of Sam Warburton, Gethin Jenkins,
Gareth Anscombe, Lloyd Williams
and Alex Cuthbert to the ranks -
although tonight’s game will come
too soon.
Fans could also see the likes of
Samoa centre Rey Lee-Lo and
USA internationals Blaine Scully
and Cameron Dolan following the
completion of the competition for
their respective teams.
Plenty of reasons to be positive,
but for Head Coach Wilson it is
long-term success that remains his
priority as he guides his young team
through the opening weeks of the
campaign.
He said: “We are a young side at
the moment and we are bringing
on even more youngsters from the
bench with the knock-on effect of
boys being away at the World Cup.
“That showed late in the game at
Munster, but credit to our boys they
dug in, showed plenty of fighting
spirit away from home and we were
extremely disappointed not to come
away with anything.
“We now have the end of the trips
to the four Irish provinces to look
forward to at Ulster and then another
away game after that against Zebre,”
added Wilson.
“It is extremely hard on this group of
players to play five away games on
the bounce. It’s a tough place to be,
but we will get on with it and will get
those games back at home at the
end of the season.”
Cardiff Blues complete the final leg of lengthy Irish
adventure this evening after a busy spell of games in the
Emerald Isle in the Guinness PRO12.
CLUB STATS
//Location
Cardiff, Wales
//Founded
2003
//Ground
BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park
//Capacity
12,000
//Last Game
Munster Rugby (A) 35-27 (L)
Saturday 17th Oct 2015, 13.30
//Next Game
Zebre Rugby (A)
Saturady 31st Oct 2015, 14:00
//Recent Form
W W L L L
STAFF
// Coach
Danny Wilson
// Captain
Josh Navidi
CONTACT
BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park
Westgate Street
Cardiff
Wales
T 029 2030 2000
E
TICKET OFFICE
T 029 2030 2030
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