Cardiff 13 Leinster 14
Joe Schmidt is likely to take far more from this performance than Leinster counterpart Leo Cullen following another successful appearance for Cian Healy and Mike Ross.
The two Ireland props extended their time on the pitch from their initial return a week earlier against Zebre.
In Cardiff, Healy remained on the pitch until 13 minutes from time having been part of a Leinster scrum that utterly dominated their hosts and having put in a workmanlike shift in defence .
By that time, Ross had also taken the field, as replacement for Tadhg Furlong, and helped secure the narrowest of victories after Jordi Murphy’s yellow card left the Leinster pack down a man for the final frantic eight minutes.
Neither prop showed any ill-effects from their hamstring or knee injuries that have stopped them taking any part of the Six Nations thus far. And given their international calibre and recent experience at the World Cup, Cullen backed both to slip seamlessly back into the international fold.
“They were both in and out of camp this week but it was great to get them back. With Cian it was good to get him another 65 minutes and with Tadgh Furlong and Mike Ross, it was great to give them almost 40 minutes each,” said Leinster’s head coach.
‘Clean run’
“Cian has missed a few periods with injuries so it’s just trying to get a clean run. If he manages to stay clear from injury for the rest of the season, he’ll get a good run of games and that will help his form. He’s a quality player and such a huge part of Leinster’s success in the past eight or nine years.
“He is certainly chomping at the bit to get back for Ireland and we would be delighted if he was involved.”
Fergus McFadden fumbled the game’s most obvious scoring chance and was then shown a yellow card barely a minute later. With the forwards going nowhere, Madigan found McFadden in space out wide with his cross-field kick only for the Ireland wing to drop the ball over the line having seemingly ridden the initial challenge by Rhys Patchell.
Blues were reluctant to kick into such a strong wind but Alex Cuthbert led a piercing breakaway from under their own posts. Patchell and Williams carried over halfway before the Wales scrumhalf was flattened by McFadden’s high challenge.
Cullen tried to mount a defence but two yellow cards spells out its own problems.
“We’re disappointed because we’re trying to impress on the players that we can back our defence which has conceded the fewest tries in the league,” said Cullen.
“We looked comfortable defending for the most part but we didn’t create a huge amount. It will be a pretty short de-brief from this one. We will take the win as it could have gone either way and we’re still in the mix at the top. It’s so tight that one defeat could cost you.”
Jack Conan marked his return after three months out with an ankle injury with the opportunist break and pass to hand Isa Nacewa his seventh try of the season. But it was backs against the wall for 14-man Leinster after Josh Navidi’s try set up a tense climax.
CARDIFF BLUES: R Patchell; A Cuthbert, C Allen, R Lee-Lo, B Scully; G Anscombe, L Williams; T Davies, K Dacey, S Ma'afu, J Hoeata, J Down, J Turnbull, E Jenkins, M Vosawai. Replacements: T James for Allen (47 mins), B Thyer, M Rees and T Filise for Davies, Dacey and Ma'afu (50 mins), D Fish for Anscombe (53 mins), J Navidi for Jenkins (63 mins), M Cook for Hoeata (70 mins).
LEINSTER: Z Kirchner; F McFadden, G Ringrose, B Te'o, I Nacewa (capt); I Madigan, E Reddan; C Healy, S Cronin, T Furlong, M Kearney, H Triggs, R Ruddock, J Murphy, J Conan. Replacements: R Strauss and M Ross for Cronin and Furlong (44 mins), T Denton for Kearney (53 mins), P Dooley for Healy (67 mins).
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland).
