David Youngs side travelled up to Scotland to take on Edinburgh and former Cardiff Coach Lynn Howells.
Ben Blair gave the Blues and early lead with a penalty after two minutes but Chris Paterson soon levelled with one of his own. The Blues reacted and worked their way up field and from first phase a lovely move saw Ben Blair coming in to the line and stepping inside his man. A high tackle on Blair saw the Blues awarded a penalty that was kicked to the corner. Having won the lineout they drove forward and after working through the phases Nick Robinson passed out to Rhys Shellard who did well to scoop the ball from the floor and pass out to Rush to score in the corner.
Edinburgh threatened again and were awarded a penalty for offside that Paterson missed in what was an evenly balanced first quarter with both teams threatening. Paterson however made up for his earlier miss when he struck another penalty on 32 minutes to put the Scottish side within two points of the Blues. That is how the half finished.
HALF TIME EDINBURGH 6 CARDIFF BLUES 8
The Blues threatened early in second half with some strong running by Jamie Robinson that resulted in a penalty. Blair stepped up from 45 yards and converted. Rhys Shellard who was making his debut for the Blues was handed a yellow card in the 49th minute and Edinburgh made the most of the numerical advantage driving to within a yard of the Blues line. Edinburgh were once again awarded a penalty, they opted for the scrum but failed to drive the Blues back. Having spread the ball out they made the most of the extra man when eventually hooker Andrew Kelly crossed for the try converted by Paterson, to give Edinburgh the lead for the first time in the match.
Tom James who replaced Luveitasau in the 62nd minutes made an impact with his first touch, breaking through the defence, and moments later was unlucky not to hold on to the ball with the try-line just yards away.
A strong break from Bradley Davies in to the Edinburgh twenty two, set up the move that saw the ball move out left where Ben White did well to cross for a try converted by Blair to restore the Blues lead with 4 minutes left. Minutes later the lead was extended further when Tom James showed his pace, sprinting down the right wing to touch down and seal the victory for the Blues.
Cardiff Blues 15. Ben Blair 14. Mosese Luveitasau (62off) 13. Jamie Robinson (79 off) 12. Marc Stcherbina 11. Chris Czekaj 10. Nicky Robinson 9. Ed Fairhurst (59 off) 8. Xavier Rush (Capt) 7. Rhys Shellard (49off) 6. Scott Morgan (64off) 5. James Goode 4. Deiniol Jones 3. Toufaao Filise 2. Gareth Williams (62off) 1. John Yapp Replacements 16. Scott Roberts 17. Duane Goodfield (62on) 18. Bradley Davies (64 on) 19. Ben White (59 on) 20. Wayne Evans (59on) 21. Nick Macleod (79 on) 22. Tom James (62on)
Edinburgh 15 Chris Paterson (captain) 14 Mike Pyke 13 Ben Cairns 12 Peter Jorgensen 11 David McCall 10 Duncan Hodge 9 Greig Laidlaw 1 Allan Jacobsen 2 Andrew Kelly 3 Craig Smith 4 Matt Mustchin 5 Steven Turnbull 6 Alasdair Strokosch 7 Ross Rennie 8 David Callam
Replacements 16 Steven Lawrie 17 Alasdair Dickinson 18 Fergus Pringle 19 Allister Hogg 20 Mike Blair 21 Ander Monro 22 Simon Webster
SCORERS:
CARDIFF BLUES Edinburgh
TRIES Rush / White / James Kelly
PENALTIES Blair 2 Paterson 2
CONVERSIONS Blair Paterson
YELLOW CARD Rhys Sellard
Referee: George Clancy (IRFU). Touch Judges: TBC