Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors, 16 September

             
Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors
16 September 2017
KO: 19:35
BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park

Live on BBC Alba and S4C, highlights later online and Scrum V on BBC Two Wales on Sunday from 18:00 BST

Referee: [tbc]
Assistant Referees: [tbc]
Citing Commissioner: [tbc]
TMO: [tbc]

A. Head to Head

30 Played 30
13 Wins 17
17 Losses 13
0 Draws 0
57 Tries 67

B. Form

2017-01-07
Glasgow 29 - 15 Blues

C. Teams

Cardiff Blues 

Rhun Williams; Alex Cuthbert, Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo, Tom James; Steve Shingler, Lloyd Williams; Rhys Gill; Matthew Rees (capt), Keiron Assiratti, Seb Davies, Damian Welch, Josh Turnbull, Josh Navidi, Nick Williams.

Replacements: Kirby Myhill, Brad Thyer, Dillon Lewis , George Earle, Macauley Cook, Tomos Williams, Jarrod Evans, Matthew Morgan.

Glasgow Warriors

Ruaridh Jackson; Tommy Seymour, Nick Grigg, Alex Dunbar, Lee Jones; Finn Russell, Henry Pyrgos (capt); Jamie Bhatti, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Tim Swinson, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Callum Gibbins, Adam Ashe

Replacements: Pat MacArthur, Alex Allan, D'arcy Rae, Brian Alainu'uese, Chris Fusaro, George Horne, Peter Horne, Niko Matawalu

Looking forward to this game, in particular as I am going to Cardiff!

Nice one BG. I can't make it as its someone's birthday or wedding or bar mitzvah or something - feck it ! Good bunch going down south for it though !

I am hoping to get down for the game. Annoy my welsh relatives one last time before uni after supporting Edinburgh last home game...

George, love the thread: pictures?

With the way the fixtures are this weekend a win for Glasgow could open up a gap at the top, even this early in the season, and put pressure on Kaahdiff and the Craggy Islanders.

jimbopip wrote:George, love the thread: pictures?

With the way the fixtures are this weekend a win for Glasgow could open up a gap at the top, even this early in the season, and put pressure on Kaahdiff and the Craggy Islanders.

It's the Welsh rarebit versus the Grannie Black mutton cardiac arrest stodge torpedo, Jim.

Might see Tommy Seymour back a week early if Masaga and Hughes are out ?

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:Might see Tommy Seymour back a week early if Masaga and Hughes are out ?

I'd be happy for Jones and Sarto to start and give Robbie Nairn a run off the bench, or might we see Niko out there?

George Carlin wrote:

jimbopip wrote:George, love the thread: pictures?

With the way the fixtures are this weekend a win for Glasgow could open up a gap at the top, even this early in the season, and put pressure on Kaahdiff and the Craggy Islanders.

It's the Welsh rarebit versus the Grannie Black mutton cardiac arrest stodge torpedo, Jim.

No, George!

I'm very much aware of what a round pie looks like, and can tell a tarted up toasted cheese a mile off.
What I meant was, "You're using pictures? That's so recherché."

I'm only choleric because looking at a mince pie reminds me of being at Firhill (Partick Thistle, pre-Warriors)for a Balticly/Baltic-ally? cold mid-week game. At half time Tom the guitar and I rushed to buy a pie and a Bovril each.
The Bovril was steaming hot and filled to the brim so that each step spilled a little more over your frozen fingers. One bite of the pie released a gushing of hot grease that wrapped itself around the fingers and then congealed solid in the cold air.

As Tom The Guitar said, "Look at me! I've got one hand as white and waxen as a nun's candle and the other one lobster red and scalded. And we're paying good money for this."

Ah, the good old days.

From the Warriors' website today;

5 Warriors in the top 7 for tackle stats in the PRO14 after two rounds. Swinno, Zander, Turner and Pete Horne up there with Adam Ashe.

Nice to see Furra Linee in there with the fatboys.

jimbopip wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

jimbopip wrote:George, love the thread: pictures?

With the way the fixtures are this weekend a win for Glasgow could open up a gap at the top, even this early in the season, and put pressure on Kaahdiff and the Craggy Islanders.

It's the Welsh rarebit versus the Grannie Black mutton cardiac arrest stodge torpedo, Jim.

No, George!

I'm very much aware of what a round pie looks like, and can tell a tarted up toasted cheese a mile off.
What I meant was, "You're using pictures? That's so recherché."

Next time I will use the medium of mime or a new Apple MegaMoji which I am guessing you can smell, talk to and which will fully understand your 'difficult' relationship with your father.

Apparently His Nikoness is travelling with the squad to WelshWales for Saturday.

Cardiff Blues: Rhun Williams; Alex Cuthbert, Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo, Tom James; Steve Shingler, Lloyd Williams; Rhys Gill; Matthew Rees (capt), Keiron Assiratti, Seb Davies, Damian Welch, Josh Turnbull, Josh Navidi, Nick Williams.

Replacements: Kirby Myhill, Brad Thyer, Dillon Lewis , George Earle, Macauley Cook, Tomos Williams, Jarrod Evans, Matthew Morgan.

Backline is looking a little healthier with Halaholo back and Rhun Williams starting. Pack is meh.

Reckon you Weegie boys will put 20 points on us.

Glasgow Team:

15. Ruaridh Jackson (115)

14. Tommy Seymour (101)

13. Nick Grigg (22)

12. Alex Dunbar (101)

11. Lee Jones (56)

10. Finn Russell (65)

9. Henry Pyrgos (127) CAPTAIN



1. Jamie Bhatti (8)

2. George Turner (2)

3. Zander Fagerson (52)

4. Tim Swinson (99)

5. Scott Cummings (19)

6. Matt Fagerson (11)

7. Callum Gibbins (1)

8. Adam Ashe (41)



Replacements:



16. Pat MacArthur (156)

17. Alex Allan (51)

18. D’arcy Rae (25)

19. Brian Alainu’uese (17)

20. Chris Fusaro (126)

21. George Horne (3)

22. Peter Horne (117)

23. Niko Matawalu (74)



Unavailable players: Fraser Brown (ankle), Jonny Gray (wrist), Adam Hastings (thigh), Stuart Hogg (shoulder), Oli Kebble (foot), Paddy Kelly (ankle), Lelia Masaga (calf), Ratu Tagive (achilles), Leo Sarto (groin), Richie Vernon (achilles), Samuela Vunisa (knee) and Ryan Wilson (neck).

a few more players rotated into the squad: Horne G, Fusaro, Allan, Tommy S making his Lions return and Niko making his Glasgow comeback covering the wing spot.

It's another strong looking team that could do some damage if it fires!

Glasgow Team;

15. Jackson
14. Tennessee Tam
13. Grigg
12. Dunbar
11 Most Improved Player
10. Dancer
9. Henners
8. Ashe
7. Half Man Half Mullet
6. Fagerson The Younger
5. Cummings
4. Swinson, The Newest Centurion
3. Ragnar
2. Not Good Enough For The Luvvies
1. Bhatti

16. WeePee
17. Allan
18. Rae
19. Not The
21. Fusaro
21. Horne The Younger
22. Horne The Elder
23. NIKO

That is a very good side. On Cardiff's 4G pitch there is ample opportunity for the Warriors to play fast and loose and pick up 5 points.
I'm looking forward to the last 20 minutes when
Horne-Dancer-Horne -Grigg-Seymour-Niko-Jackson
are all on the pitch and running everything from everywhere.

George Horne, for our Welsh posters who may not know him, is one of the very few players who can make Niko look pedestrian and predictable.

Henry P plays better with Finn than any other 10 we have played with him (HP). Looking forward to a quick game and anything would be better than the dross served up last year in Cardiff.

I cant't see the game listed on Alba or BBC Wales. Is it on TV?

live on s4c

TJ wrote:live on s4c

ta.....oh also HD

3rd game in and injuries already piling up. This will be tough like last season. Anyone think Renzo will bring on Mad Mata if we are 3 up with 10 to go ? No I didn't think so !

16. Pat MacArthur (156)

17. Alex Allan (51)

18. D’arcy Rae (25)

19. Brian Alainu’uese (17)

I presume that the figure in square brackets is the number of eggs that they have in their morning omelette.

This is embarrassing. Finn is feckin awful !

Glasgow trying the miracle pass every time they attack - killing off so many promising positions

How did he miss that kick??

Away win is an away win boys.

Another sh*t showing from the Welsh regions. Apart from the mighty Dragons, of course. But 1 from 3 with 3 home games is not a great return

Griff wrote:Another sh*t showing from the Welsh regions. Apart from the mighty Dragons, of course. But 1 from 3 with 3 home games is not a great return

Scarlets are there or there abouts and will be contenders, Blues aren't even close to where a lot of people think they are, they are nowhere near the better sides in the Pro14 in my opinion. Ospreys in the last few season they can put cricket scores on lesser teams but get found out against quality opposition, not enough gumption. Dragons are desperately trying to improve.

I expect to see the Scarlets in the latter stages, the Ospreys have a chance if they get their act together. Bare in mind the Ospreys only really have Munster and Glasgow to compete with in that side of the Pro14, based on early season form at least. I hope Dragons push on under Jackman, for the Blues its back to the drawing board.

Ospreys have been our top side for many years but they've started to decline in the last few years. They don't seem to be signing any big names lately and their current big names seem to be linked to moves away from the region. Think they'll struggle a bit this year. Scarlets to be our top team, no question. Dragons and Blues will not be near the play offs, unfortunately.

Blues actually looked competitive which is a huge improvement from the Edinburgh game. If the weather was a bit better, Glasgow would not have had to rely on Shingler shanking the winning kick.

Cuthbert yet again refusing to go up for a kick properly. He should be dropped or be told to simply get close enough to make a good hit on landing. It cost a try today from nothing. Tom James is playing well in a poor situation.

Russell trying to do too much in cr*p weather. Needed to settle down. There will be times when the hands will not be on.

Sorry I couldn't watch this game - it looked fascinating and the stats have it as nothing more than the proverbial ba' hair between them:

Cardiff - Glasgow
42 Territory 58
47 Possession 53

This is the sort of game which Glasgow lost regularly last season so I'm delighted that we took the points here. 

Relying on the opposition to miss a kick is not a game plan though - presumably Rennie will continue to do his scrunchy face in front of the press all week.

George Carlin wrote:Sorry I couldn't watch this game - it looked fascinating and the stats have it as nothing more than the proverbial ba' hair between them:

Cardiff - Glasgow
42 Territory 58
47 Possession 53

This is the sort of game which Glasgow lost regularly last season so I'm delighted that we took the points here. 

Relying on the opposition to miss a kick is not a game plan though - presumably Rennie will continue to do his scrunchy face in front of the press all week.

You shouldn't be sorry. It was awful. Glasgow looked as if they just met for the first time while in the tunnel. Very lucky to get the win.

Would be interesting to see the knock on stats - Niko was responsible for at least half!

As I said earlier in the thread, Glasgow were throwing the miracle pass or offload every time where if they just played through the phases they would have put the Blues in a lot of trouble.

Think it is safe to say some of the fans were unhappy at the officiating

https://mobile.twitter.com/c_kirwan/status/909132342710689792

One of the strangest games I have ever watched. For the 1st 20 Finn seemed to think it was an exhibition match. But ultimately he (Finn) put us back in a winning position which Shingler then obliged by missing the straightforward penalty. Gibbins, Swinson were excellent again and Henry Pyrgos has recovered his mojo. And now that Lee Jones is a true Warrior (played more for us than the Luvvies) he scores yet another important try - he is making a good habit of doing this. Niko still barking right enough !

cakeordeath wrote:Think it is safe to say some of the fans were unhappy at the officiating

https://mobile.twitter.com/c_kirwan/status/909132342710689792

Yeah, that happened across the pitch from me. I was surprised that he was not chucked out.

On Jones, are we sure he is not the second best winger for Glasgow? Sarto and Masaga are his only real competition. Assuming he is not called up, he may be Glasgow's most important back 3 player this season.

Hazel Sapling wrote:

cakeordeath wrote:Think it is safe to say some of the fans were unhappy at the officiating

https://mobile.twitter.com/c_kirwan/status/909132342710689792

Yeah, that happened across the pitch from me. I was surprised that he was not chucked out.

On Jones, are we sure he is not the second best winger for Glasgow? Sarto and Masaga are his only real competition. Assuming he is not called up, he may be Glasgow's most important back 3 player this season.

Agree with that Mr/Ms Sapling but only insofar as he is a relatively great player to have during the international window and a back 3 of Rhubarb II, Jones and Masaga during that period is amazing.

Jones has come so far but Sarto is phenomenally strong and scores a load of tries - the only reason that we tend to forget this is that he was out injured for so long. Scoring 8 international tries in 3 years for a team like (with all due respect my Azzuri brothers) Italy shows real class.

With Hogg dipped in bronze at full back, Maitland playing well for Sarries, Visser very visible for Quins, Graham in the wings, SuperDunc able to deputise on the wing plus Seymour with a great international try scoring rate, it will be very hard for LJ to add to this international caps but I suspect that he knows that and he's just happy to start regularly for his club.

Was speaking to some of Lee Jones' family recently - they follow him (now) all over. Very proud of Lee and rightly so. Needless to say they don't have much good to say about the Luvvies. LJ was our stand out back last night - although thought Jacko had a decent game too.

Well just back from a great weekend in South Wales.

It was a strange old game that neither side seemed all that keen to win. I am going to stick my neck out and give it to Glasgow for the greater attacking intent. We scored two decent tries and played the better attacking game. Apart from the Blues try, caused by an appalling missed tackle by Dunbar, of all people, they never looked remotely like scoring. The fact that we had to rely on Shingler missing a sitter to give us the points is a reflection of how poor we played as well.

Other than the rugby we found out that the Capital, as my Welsh colleague at work, refers to Cardiff, is a pretty lively town. I made my long suffering wife trudge a mile back to our hotel in the rain and we witnessed a fair bit of the night life up close and personal. We had already seen the start of the evening as right by our hotel, the Cardiff version of Oktoberfest was taking place. Lots of Bavarian dressed lads and lassies, mostly with Welsh accents, and downing large steins of beer. YMCA was blaring out at full volume and from what we could see in the beer tent it was an absolute zoo. Bear in mind that this was at half past five in the afternoon!

Luckily, I am 25 years to old to be indulging in such revelry, but the voyeur in me does occasionally like to watch others do so!

Anyway after such a night, I felt like I owed the wife a treat on the way home and so, as you do in South Wales, I took her down a coal mine!

For anyone down that way, the Big Pit Coal Mining Museum at Blaenavon is a must visit place. You can actually go on an underground tour of the mine, guided by ex minors who give a wonderful commentary of what life was really like underground. My grandmothers family were miners from Stirling and my great grandfather was killed in a mining accident aged around 30, so I found it a really moving experience to go underground. At one point the guide gets everyone to turn their lamps off and you have to say that you have never experienced darkness like it. Once upon a time 6 year old children were down there for 12 hours a day opening and closing the ventilation doors. Whatever is going on in our world today, some things have certainly improved.

The guides were great and as I was wearing a Warriors Hoodie, soon latched onto me and some friendly banter was had. As we were standing waiting to go down the shaft, a bunch of French School kids were coming up. You hear stories of Welsh miners singing in the cage on the way up at the end of their shift. These kids did the tradition proud by giving out a full blown version of the Marseilles as they came back up to the surface. It was great to hear and as they emerged, the guide asked them in deadpan Welsh, 'tell me where you come from again'.

We had a great weekend and I thoroughly recommend the experience to anyone who fancies a weekend in the Valleys.

You took her up the shaft and down the valleys, Gee?

Please. These are family boards.

Cardiff would've been lively because the darts was on too.

Big Pit is brilliant though yes.

Glasgow fans, are you slightly concerned with how the team played?

Not having a dig or looking for a debate about who's worse (it's Edinburgh) but that was a pretty poor performance by Glasgow.  I mean great getting the win when not playing well, but you were lucky Shingler missed his kick, that result could easily have gone the other way.

Given Glasgow's target this season is to win the league (I think Rennie has said as much) then they need to be putting teams like Cardiff* comfortably away, especially as I doubt teams like Munster/Scarlets etc will be as forgiving.



*No offence Cardiff fans, but I don't see you challenging for the title, mostly due to some of the comments by your fans who don't seem to think that's likely either.

No point beating about the bush, it was not a good performance and yes we will have to play much better than that to win the league, starting this Friday when Munster come over. I suppose the only consolation is that we did win and probably deserved to, despite the missed kick. We also know that we can play a lot better than that.

The scrum was a big worry for me, it did not go well and I don't think that the Blues are a renowned scrimmaging team. Munster are and are going to cause us major problems if we can't get it sorted.

We were also trying to play far to much fancy rugby from our own half and when the weather conditions clearly did not suit that kind of game. I am all for playing the Glasgow style but sometimes we just need to keep it a bit simpler. That performance reminds me a lot of when we lost down there in the Euro cup a few years ago. Sometimes you have got to give the opposition a bit more respect before chucking it about.

I expect that won't be so much of an issue against Mumster, who seem to have a bit of a hex on us in recent games.

Still 3 from 3. We would have taken that at the beginning of the season. At of work still to do though.

Considering the team that played..

Glasgow Warriors: Ruaridh Jackson; Tommy Seymour, Nick Grigg, Alex Dunbar, Lee Jones; Finn Russell, Henry Pyrgos (capt); Jamie Bhatti, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Tim Swinson, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Callum Gibbins, Adam Ashe

Replacements: Pat MacArthur, Alex Allan, D'arcy Rae, Brian Alainu'uese, Chris Fusaro, George Horne, Peter Horne, Niko Matawalu

You'd expect something like this for Munster..

Jackson, Masaga, Dunbar, Johnson, Seymour, Russell, Price, : Allan, Turner, Fagerson, Alainu'uese, Swinson, Wilson, Gibbons, Ashe

MacArthur, Bhatti, Rae, Cummings, Fusaro, Pyrgos, Hastings, Horne

Just off top of my head, so a fairly different side

FYI _ larey blues fan was removed from stadium for his beer throw apparently and Blues fans seemed very annoyed with his behaviour. Great to hear

They took their time to remove him then. Cardiff fans went silent when he threw the beer on my side.

As for the team next time round, Dunbar limped off which is a concern.

EWT Spoons wrote:Glasgow fans, are you slightly concerned with how the team played?

Not having a dig or looking for a debate about who's worse (it's Edinburgh) but that was a pretty poor performance by Glasgow.  I mean great getting the win when not playing well, but you were lucky Shingler missed his kick, that result could easily have gone the other way.

Given Glasgow's target this season is to win the league (I think Rennie has said as much) then they need to be putting teams like Cardiff* comfortably away, especially as I doubt teams like Munster/Scarlets etc will be as forgiving.



*No offence Cardiff fans, but I don't see you challenging for the title, mostly due to some of the comments by your fans who don't seem to think that's likely either.

Yes and no

It was a poor poor performance, and if repeated, then I will start to get concerned. We were lucky to win due to the kick, but we still looked the better side.

A huge amount of improvement is needed, but the core is there.

bsando wrote:Considering the team that played..

Glasgow Warriors: Ruaridh Jackson; Tommy Seymour, Nick Grigg, Alex Dunbar, Lee Jones; Finn Russell, Henry Pyrgos (capt); Jamie Bhatti, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Tim Swinson, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Callum Gibbins, Adam Ashe

Replacements: Pat MacArthur, Alex Allan, D'arcy Rae, Brian Alainu'uese, Chris Fusaro, George Horne, Peter Horne, Niko Matawalu

You'd expect something like this for Munster..

Jackson, Masaga, Dunbar, Johnson, Seymour, Russell, Price, : Allan, Turner, Fagerson, Alainu'uese, Swinson, Wilson, Gibbons, Ashe

MacArthur, Bhatti, Rae, Cummings, Fusaro, Pyrgos, Hastings, Horne

Just off top of my head, so a fairly different side

FYI _ larey blues fan was removed from stadium for his beer throw apparently and Blues fans seemed very annoyed with his behaviour. Great to hear

Harsh on Lee Jones who has been our stand out back so far.