Cardiff Blues 36 Racing Metro 30CARDIFF BLUES booked their Heineken Cup quarter-final place, but not before Wales coach Warren Gatland was dealt another major pre-Six Nations injury scare.
Blues and Wales prop Gethin Jenkins went off six minutes before half-time at Cardiff City Stadium nursing what appeared to be a knee problem.
Gatland has already lost Jenkins’s fellow forwards Luke Charteris, Alun-Wyn Jones and Lloyd Burns from the tournament – Wales’s opening game against Ireland is just a fortnight away – while outhalf Rhys Priestland and flanker Dan Lydiate both suffered injuries during yesterday’s action.
Despite Jenkins’s early exit, the Blues secured a last-eight berth – albeit away against Heineken Cup holders Leinster – thanks to wing Alex Cuthbert’s try double, a Lloyd Williams touchdown and 21 points from full-back Leigh Halfpenny, including five penalties.
Edinburgh’s bonus point win against London Irish at Murrayfield, though, means the Blues qualify as best runners-up and not Pool Two top dogs, travelling to Dublin rather than hosting Clermont Auvergne.
Racing pushed them all the way, scoring tries through their former Exeter full-back Josh Matavesi and wing Sireli Bobo, with outhalf Jonathan Wisniewski kicking three penalties, centre Francois Steyn two and scrum-half Sebastien Descons a conversion and penalty. Neither side went more than six points ahead at any time in the contest.
CARDIFF BLUES: Halfpenny; Cuthbert, Laulala, Evans, Czekaj; Parks, L Williams; G Jenkins, Tyrell, Andrews, B Davies, Tito, Paterson, Warburton, Rush. Replacements: James for Czekaj (67), Rees for L Williams (53), Yapp for G Jenkins (36), Hobbs for Andrews (42), Molitika for Tito (70).
RACING METRO 92: Matavesi; Chavancy, Steyn, Estebanez, Bobo; Wisniewski, Descons; Tuugahala, Noirot, Sa, Ghezal, van der Merwe, Leo'o, Battut, Chabal. Replacements: Ben Arous for Tuugahala (45), Orlandi for Noirot (54), Arganese for Sa (54), Nailiko for van der Merwe (50), Cronje for Chabal (52). Att: 8,091.
Referee: Andrew Small (RFU).
