Cardiff vs Edinburgh Discussion Thread

[RuggerRadge2611]

First topic message reminder :

Well my Welsh brothers and sisters it is nearly time for another Celtic Capital clash.

It sees a repeat of the first match of the Season for both clubs as Cardiff came to Edinburgh and convincingly hammered us in our own back yard. A few months later and things are a bit differant with Cardiff getting beaten by a truck load by Leinster. Whilst Edinburgh on the other hand mauled Aironi lst Friday and are sitting pretty at the top of the HC pool after hard fought wins against the Exiles and Racing Metro.

Taken in context it would seem Edinburgh are in the Ascendency however the last few meetings between the 2 teams have gone the way of the Welshmen, will Friday be any differant? Will the winner of the home and a way leg of these games go onto win the pool?

Cardiff Blues
15 Leigh Halfpenny
14 Alex Cuthbert
13 Casey Laulala
12 Jamie Roberts
11 Chris Czekaj
10 Dan Parks
9 Lloyd Williams
8 Xavier Rush
7 Sam Warburton
6 Michael Paterson
5 Paul Tito (c)
4 Bradley Davies
3 Taufa'ao Filise
2 T Rhys Thomas
1 Gethin Jenkins

Substitutes
16 Ryan Tyrell
17 John Yapp
18 Scott Andrews
19 Maama Molitika
20 Josh Navidi
21 Richie Rees
22 Ceri Sweeney
23 Gavin Evans

Edinburgh
15 Chris Paterson
14 Lee Jones
13 Nick De Luca
12 James King
11 Tim Visser
10 Harry Leonard
9 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN
1 Allan Jacobsen
2 Ross Ford
3 Geoff Cross
4 Sean Cox
5 Esteban Lozada
6 David Denton
7 Roddy Grant
8 Stuart McInally

Substitutes
16 Steve Lawrie
17 Kyle Traynor
18 Jack Gilding
19 Steven Turnbull
20 Ross Rennie
21 Mike Blair
22 John Houston
23 Tom Brown

[wales606]

Intercept by...Scott Andrews??

Doesnt have the pace, but Warburton is in support and gives it to Cuthbert for the corner TRY.

23 - 8

Conversion to come

[wales606]

They called Scott Andrews, Xavier Rush - Now have corrected it saying it was Tyrell.

These commentators should really be able to recognise Welsh internationals.

[wales606]

Sam Warburton MOTM

Personally I think it was a 3 way tie between Gethin, Warburton and B.Davies

[wales606]

Excellent take from Czekaj (now at FB) - His chip then earns the Blues 50 metres.

[wales606]

Oh my god...The commentator thinks that you can get a TBP in injury time when you only have 1 try.

FT

Blues 25 - 8 Edinburgh

[Guest]

Dont think the commentators could get more of the Cardiff players names wrong if they tried

[Ozzy3213]

Who got the Blues try, I have heard it was Czekaj, but then heard it was Cuthbert?

[Coleman]

Lloyd Williams is class.

[Guest]

It was Cuthbert, from an interception by Rush apparently (it was Andrews) but then they corrected themselves and saw it was an intercept by one of the Edinburgh players.

[Ozzy3213]

Definitely the Blues pool to lose now. Big return game next week, if the Blues get 4 points in Edinburgh then I think they are pretty much there.

[wales606]

Blues took 40 minutes to sort themselves out tonight - it shouldn't take them as long next week, so hopefully the Blues can gain an edge next week.

Good news for Wales in the 6N that B.Davies, L.Williams and S.Andrews did very well tonight.

[Guest]

Gethin is the man

[RDW]

Well played the blues, despite parks being crap! Edinburgh of old tonight - very busy without much end product.

I thought denton was absolutely superb tonight though.

[Guest]

Parks ignores over laps, a 3 point banker on advantage with a 4 on 3 to his left so he drop goals for 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how the F is that logical?

[Cymroglan]

Good win for the Blues

[RDW]

Parks ignores over laps, a 3 point banker on advantage with a 4 on 3 to his left so he drop goals for 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how the F is that logical?

Are you really complaining?? I'd happily take 4 points and not complain!

[Imperialbigdave]

Parks ignores over laps, a 3 point banker on advantage with a 4 on 3 to his left so he drop goals for 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how the F is that logical?

Are you really complaining?? I'd happily take 4 points and not complain!

You do know this means that he is going to get the 10 shirt against england now and our 6N chances are gone.

[flyhalffactory]

Parks ignores over laps, a 3 point banker on advantage with a 4 on 3 to his left so he drop goals for 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how the F is that logical?

Logical because you go for the win first and foremost, 4 on 3 overlap can often be F'd Up.............. that logical to most people

Desperate scores 20 pts .............. and a win.............. so how did he play craaap!!

Beggars belief

[mpc28]

Parks ignores over laps, a 3 point banker on advantage with a 4 on 3 to his left so he drop goals for 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how the F is that logical?

Logical because you go for the win first and foremost, 4 on 3 overlap can often be F'd Up.............. that logical to most people

Desperate scores 20 pts .............. and a win.............. so how did he play craaap!!

Beggars belief

He did score 20 points yes so it is hard to be overly critical but he never looked like unleashing what is a fantastic set of Blues backs and as for the 4 on 3 overlap it was with a penalty advantage so i can understand why people would get frustrated with that.

[Knowsit17]

Bit late but much better second half by the Blues, applied the pressure well and got the points from resulting pens.

I was also annoyed by Parks at times but the more I think about it the less sensible it seems to complain. For one thing a WBP never looked likely against an Edinburgh side on a roll, the win without allowing them anything is good enough in my books.
Another thing, before any team concentrates on playing champaigne rugby they ought to focus on winning and that's exactly what Parks has been doing for the Blues this season. The side with the most points wins games, not the side that plays the nicest rugby. If you're lucky you can do both at once but as the last HEC game showed, Blues aren't necessarily effective at taking advantage of numbers. I say let Blues evolve in consistency on the results sheet before worrying about playing a crowd-pleasing brand of rugby.

Not that the crowds are there to begin with...

[munkian]

So thats more games than tries for Scotland in Feb #exciting Six Nations

[luvtotup]

Edinburgh need a couple of clones of Mr " Godzilla" of Montpellier as they were getting totally outmuscled in the second half - maybe should go shopping in Georgia for a neandrethal or two.

[maestegmafia]

Well done the blues. Good win.

Parks drives me insane, he is awful. The Blues would be a top team in Europe if it wasnt for Parks idiotic flyhalf game...

[Guest]

He guys don't get me wrong Dan Parks is the man when it comes to kicks at goal and drop goals but to waste an advantage like that is just proof that the guy lacks any skill and thought beyond 3 points!

It will be interesting if Henson plays 12 and Roberts 13,
Henson is far more vocal than Roberts,he won't be afraid to tell Parks to move the ball around more.
Even have Henson as first receiver off set piece moves?

[maestegmafia]

Henson will lose it with Parks. Apparently one of the reasons he left Saracens was because the young Farrell Kid just kicked the leather off it.

Parks is going to get a serious balling out by Henson if he continues to play like he does.

[bsando]

I was at the game and it wasn't overly exciting. Overall I felt Edinburgh were better with ball in hand whilst the blues were much better in defense so it turned into a kind of stalemate for most of the game. Edinburgh made some silly errors. Mike Blair threw a pass right in front of me without even looking to see if a player was there, which there wasn't, and blues then got possession. He had plenty of time to look too, such a basic error. Blues were by no means amazing but they did well to force Edinburgh to give away silly penalties and I saw the likes of warburton ripping balls out of edinburgh hands in the tackle very effectively.

By the way Blues fans, what sort of no.10 would you prefer to Dan Parks?

[XR]

People always said they wanted a controller because Nicky Robinson was inconsistent. So he leaves and we get a 'controlling' fly half and people want an attacking one instead. We have Parks, he scored 20 points and him getting the points was what kept us out of Edinburghs sights. We were never going to get 4 tries so needed any points asap.

Interestingly, I was at the game last night and after parks 'butchered' the overlap and scored the drop goal, laulala who was in the overlap gave parks and thumbs up and clapped. So they obviously realised that too.

In the HEC you need to win your games, and we've won all 3 and are top of the pool. Why complain? But then again, i don't think MaestegMafia is a blues fan so his opinion doesn't hold much weight.

[Feckless Rogue]

Most countries have a successful "pragmatic" team, who are good at grinding teams down and strangling the life out of them. A 10 like Parks fits well into this type of side. His job is to just keep his team in the other sides half and keep the score board ticking over with 3 pointers.

But I don't think there's room in Wales for this type of team using this type of 10. The Welsh love attacking rugby, probably more than any other European country. There's only four regions. And I can't see the fans of any of them really wanting to become the "Munster" of Wales. They want to see the "Welsh way". That's why Blues should have tried to keep Robinson and never signed Parks. He's good at what he does but he doesn't suit Welsh rugby.

[dogtooth]

a good win.

i think we are being too hard on parks. he isnt a flamboyant outhalf but he does get the blues into good positions, and he gets points.

we could have won it with parks' 15 points but the team used the points cusion to build on and we ended with a couple of good trys.

we might struggle if we need a four-try bonus point in a game but we should make the knockouts.

if henson is the answer, the question is the start of a bad joke

[Cardiff Dave]

Most countries have a successful "pragmatic" team, who are good at grinding teams down and strangling the life out of them. A 10 like Parks fits well into this type of side. His job is to just keep his team in the other sides half and keep the score board ticking over with 3 pointers.

But I don't think there's room in Wales for this type of team using this type of 10. The Welsh love attacking rugby, probably more than any other European country. There's only four regions. And I can't see the fans of any of them really wanting to become the "Munster" of Wales. They want to see the "Welsh way". That's why Blues should have tried to keep Robinson and never signed Parks. He's good at what he does but he doesn't suit Welsh rugby.

They did.

[Cardiff Dave]

Henson will lose it with Parks. Apparently one of the reasons he left Saracens was because the young Farrell Kid just kicked the leather off it.

Parks is going to get a serious balling out by Henson if he continues to play like he does.

That is Parks' game though and he's good at it; kick, kick and kick again and if in doubt kick it, so he isn't going to change. I could be mistaken, but I think he was even lining up a drop goal attempt with 30secs left on the clock.

[Cardiff Dave]

People always said they wanted a controller because Nicky Robinson was inconsistent. So he leaves and we get a 'controlling' fly half and people want an attacking one instead. We have Parks, he scored 20 points and him getting the points was what kept us out of Edinburghs sights. We were never going to get 4 tries so needed any points asap.

Interestingly, I was at the game last night and after parks 'butchered' the overlap and scored the drop goal, laulala who was in the overlap gave parks and thumbs up and clapped. So they obviously realised that too.

In the HEC you need to win your games, and we've won all 3 and are top of the pool. Why complain? But then again, i don't think MaestegMafia is a blues fan so his opinion doesn't hold much weight.

Nicky Robinson was very inconsistent, but he got better and lets be fair he was thrown in the deep end at an early age. Cardiff were crying out for an OH for years, but all we got was Roger Warren and a certain Iestyn Harris. But when he eventually did hit form, it took a while and with Blair taking over the kicking duties, he did a fair bit of controlling in a different way and Cardiff began to score tries for fun. He targeted empty spaces and grass back then. Parks on the other hand aims for touch finders most of the time. OK if you have a very good lineout, but Cardiff Blues never did and still don't.
The point is that if Cardiff need to score a try, Parks shouldn't be on the pitch.

[wales606]

People always said they wanted a controller because Nicky Robinson was inconsistent. So he leaves and we get a 'controlling' fly half and people want an attacking one instead. We have Parks, he scored 20 points and him getting the points was what kept us out of Edinburghs sights. We were never going to get 4 tries so needed any points asap.

Interestingly, I was at the game last night and after parks 'butchered' the overlap and scored the drop goal, laulala who was in the overlap gave parks and thumbs up and clapped. So they obviously realised that too.

In the HEC you need to win your games, and we've won all 3 and are top of the pool. Why complain? But then again, i don't think MaestegMafia is a blues fan so his opinion doesn't hold much weight.

Nicky Robinson was very inconsistent, but he got better and lets be fair he was thrown in the deep end at an early age. Cardiff were crying out for an OH for years, but all we got was Roger Warren and a certain Iestyn Harris. But when he eventually did hit form, it took a while and with Blair taking over the kicking duties, he did a fair bit of controlling in a different way and Cardiff began to score tries for fun. He targeted empty spaces and grass back then. Parks on the other hand aims for touch finders most of the time. OK if you have a very good lineout, but Cardiff Blues never did and still don't.
The point is that if Cardiff need to score a try, Parks shouldn't be on the pitch.

Play Parks - win by 17pts against Edinburgh

Play Sweeney - lose by 42pts against Leinster

Say what you like, Parks does win games, Sweeney certainly isn't the answer and I doubt Henson is...

[Cardiff Dave]

Play Sweeney - lose by 42pts against Leinster

A Rabodirect something or other Pro12 ex magners game don't give a toss and never have either ever. The club doesn't care in other words and never have done.
Next question?

[wales606]

Play Sweeney - lose by 42pts against Leinster

A Rabodirect something or other Pro12 ex magners game don't give a toss and never have either ever. The club doesn't care in other words and never have done.
Next question?

???

Are you saying the Blues never bother with the Pro12 - Its odd since its most of their season and the basis for which they earn their place for their region and internationally.

[George Carlin]

People always said they wanted a controller because Nicky Robinson was inconsistent. So he leaves and we get a 'controlling' fly half and people want an attacking one instead. We have Parks, he scored 20 points and him getting the points was what kept us out of Edinburghs sights. We were never going to get 4 tries so needed any points asap.

Interestingly, I was at the game last night and after parks 'butchered' the overlap and scored the drop goal, laulala who was in the overlap gave parks and thumbs up and clapped. So they obviously realised that too.

In the HEC you need to win your games, and we've won all 3 and are top of the pool. Why complain? But then again, i don't think MaestegMafia is a blues fan so his opinion doesn't hold much weight.

Nicky Robinson was very inconsistent, but he got better and lets be fair he was thrown in the deep end at an early age. Cardiff were crying out for an OH for years, but all we got was Roger Warren and a certain Iestyn Harris. But when he eventually did hit form, it took a while and with Blair taking over the kicking duties, he did a fair bit of controlling in a different way and Cardiff began to score tries for fun. He targeted empty spaces and grass back then. Parks on the other hand aims for touch finders most of the time. OK if you have a very good lineout, but Cardiff Blues never did and still don't.
The point is that if Cardiff need to score a try, Parks shouldn't be on the pitch.

Play Parks - win by 17pts against Edinburgh

Play Sweeney - lose by 42pts against Leinster

Say what you like, Parks does win games, Sweeney certainly isn't the answer and I doubt Henson is...

Totally agree Wales606.

Parks is doing exactly what he was brought there to do. Win first, play attractive rugby second.

Complaining that Parks is a controlling 10 who keeps the scoreboard ticking over but cannot ignite a backline is like complaining that 101 Dalmations has got a lot of dogs in it.

[Newsilure]

I was at the match on Friday and three things strile me

1. Parks is good at winning games
2. Fans hate watching Parks play, the groans when he went for drop goals in potential try scoring situations spelt out the general exasperation.
3. Rugby is a business and to survive as a business you need people to buy your product, 6000+ fans is way down on what the Bl;ues were attracting before Parks turned up and we were winning HK matches pretty regularly then. No one watching this match on TV is going to say don't the Blues play fantastic rugby I must go and see their next match. What they are going to say is isn't that Parks chap really boring!

If we don't get more fans through the door we wont be able to afford to bring in or hold onto quality players. For the long term future of the Blues Parks must be replaced. Take it from an ex Celtic Warriors fan seeing your club dissappear because of poor management frittering away the support base is not something you will want to go through

[maestegmafia]

Just watching this again...

Dan Parks ruins so much good stuff that the Blues do. He can't pass, his kicking out of hand was awful, his defence is insanely poor.

The sooner they get rid of him the better.

[Guest]

Blues have got the best chance (probably the only chance) of a Welsh region qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Heineken. Parks has played his part in that.

If Henson can't fit in with the style of play then, no doubt, he'll get in a strop and move on again. That won't be Parks' fault.

[George Carlin]

Are Blues fans really suggesting that they'd rather play sparkling rugby and lose? That is fascinating if that's true.

[wales606]

Are Blues fans really suggesting that they'd rather play sparkling rugby and lose? That is fascinating if that's true.

Im not, after a year of cr*p, Parks finally appears to be doing his job for us.

[maestegmafia]

W606, I couldn't disagree with you more... Parks is limiting the Blues with his lack of ability and vision.

The Blues don't need anyone special, unique, they just need someone who can bring out the best in the players around them instead of limiting them by putting in bad kicks and bad passes when they are winning quick attacking ball.

They also need a player who doesn't refuse to tackle.

Sweeney isn't the man, he has hardly had a run of more than two games for the last three years, they need to search and find the right man for the job. A player like Tovey, Stephen Jones or Priestland would serve them much better.

[Londonwelsh]

[quote="wales606 after a year of cr*p, Parks finally appears to be doing his job for us.[/quote]

There's mixed opinion about Dan Parks is divided on the Blues forum but I’m one of the few who think overall Parks did alright for us on Friday night.
Burnell was right when he said

“He keeps the scoreboard ticking over and he keeps us moving forward.

“People are quick to say he kicks a lot of ball away but they lose sight of the fact that he keeps us going forward".

“Every time Edinburgh were penalised in their own half Dan was stepping up and kicking points".

He did this very well. I understand he can annoy people with his style of play but that’s Dan Parks for you.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2011/12/11/cardiff-blues-coach-justin-burnell-defends-under-fire-dan-parks-91466-29931690/

[maestegmafia]

Yes it is great to see anyone kicking the goals, it is a vital part of the game. BUT.... That wayward up and under when the Gunners back line was up too flat that effectively went backwards was an awful mistake, there were a couple of poor passes going behind the man when the Blues were on a flat out attack.

He doesn't have the skills that the players around him have and his performance makes the Blues fall short.

[Londonwelsh]

Sweeney isn't the man, he has hardly had a run of more than two games for the last three years.

Not quite true is it. Sweeney was our 10 during the 2nd half of the season in 2010 and was a key member of the team that won the Amlin.

Sweeney had a run of about 6 games in the Pro 12 during the World Cup and was dire. He failed to put any pressure on Dan Parks and so when Parks came back from New Zealand he was chucked straight into the team for the Connacht match. He's had plenty of chances and failed to take them.

[maestegmafia]

Yes, i agree that when he has had a run of a few matches he does a great job. Most of those periods are when Parks was unavailable, or when they realised what a kipper SNK was as a buy...

He has, when given opportunities, done a much better job than Parks or SNK have... But the Blues coaches refuse to see him as any more than a bench warmer and his game suffers when he doesn't get action

[Shifty]

One more win for the Blues will see them through, 3 fantastic win out of 3 games, one more win and you should be ok for the quarterfinals, 2 more wins and you'll be at home!

[maestegmafia]

Yes AD... That is a great effort, just think it would be so much easier without Parks at Ten

[Shifty]

I'm just downloading a raft of games from this weekend now, Ospreys V Saracens, Edinburugh V Blues, Wales V Japan 1995 and 1999 so cant wait to make a start!

[TJ1]

Where do you download 'em from?

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