Blues fall short despite win
Cardiff remain in the Heineken Cup after their 36-30 win over Racing Metro, though they failed to finish on top of Pool Two.
Last Updated: 23/01/12 12:57am
Cardiff booked their Heineken Cup quarter-final berth and a showdown with a 36-30 victory over Racing Metro in Wales.
A double from wing Alex Cuthbert, a Lloyd Williams touchdown and 21 points from full-back Leigh Halfpenny earned the Welsh outfit a last-eight showdown with holders Leinster.
Edinburgh's bonus-point win against London Irish at Murrayfield, though, means the Blues fail to win Pool Two, sending them to Dublin rather than a home tie against Clermont Auvergne.
Racing pushed them all the way, scoring tries through former Exeter full-back Josh Matavesi and wing Sireli Bobo, with fly-half Jonathan Wisniewski kicking three penalties, centre Francois Steyn two and scrum-half Sebastien Descons a conversion and a penalty.
Neither side went more than six points ahead at any time in the contest - a statistic that did little to calm nerves among an 8,000 crowd.
Racing struck first when Wisniewski landed a long-range penalty, but the Blues responded immediately thanks to a defensive blunder by Steyn.
Gifted
The South African World Cup winner took far too long trying to clear the ball from inside his 22, allowing Williams to charge it down before gathering a kind bounce and finishing.
Halfpenny converted, only for Wisniewski to kick his second penalty, this time from just 25 metres out, then Halfpenny continued an early scoring burst with a penalty that made it 10-6.
Any thoughts that Racing had arrived merely to make up the numbers were dispelled midway through a lively opening period as Cardiff fell behind.
The visitors, eager to move possession wide at every opportunity, sliced through the Blues' defence and after Bobo's one-handed pass created space, Matavesi was the man to go over.
Although Wisniewski missed the conversion, he soon completed his penalty hat-trick before injury forced him off and he was replaced by Juan Imhoff.
Halfpenny's second successful penalty cut the gap to a point, but Racing were good value for their advantage until they gifted their opponents a second try through more sloppy defensive work.
Impressive
Halfpenny ghosted past Steyn, then his fellow Racing centre Fabrice Estebanez missed an easy tackle on Cuthbert, who touched down despite not being called back by referee Andrew Small for a knock-on.
It was ultimately a fortuitous score for the Blues, but Halfpenny rubbed salt into Racing's wounds by kicking the touchline conversion attempt that opened up a 20-14 lead.
Just when the Blues needed to close things up, however, they suffered a double blow when Bobo rounded off an impressive move for Racing's second try - converted by Descons - before Gethin Jenkins limped off nursing what appeared to be a knee problem.
The penalty-fest continued as Halfpenny and Steyn swapped kicks, ending a first 40 minutes that saw the lead change hands six times and Racing pinching a 24-23 advantage.
The Blues took less than two minutes to go back in front, prospering when Imhoff was guilty of defensive hesitancy, and Cuthbert gathered before sprinting over in the corner.
Halfpenny's conversion took the Blues up to 30 points, and it was a lead they managed to retain, even though their performance level looked well short of what will be required to challenge Leinster in early April.
Halfpenny, who missed only one kick from nine attempts, sealed the deal with a late strike, yet Cardiff finished second in the group after four-try Edinburgh beat London Irish.
