Nervous Blues go down to Perpignan

Cardiff Blues 3 Perpignan 21

Cardiff Blues and Jonah Lomu are facing Heineken Cup misery after Perpignan clinched a priceless victory at the Arms Park.

The Blues’ quarter-final hopes now hinge on their beating Leeds at Headingley next Sunday – but that still might not be enough.

Perpignan will finish top of Pool Two if they defeat Italian minnows Calvisano in their final group game, leaving Cardiff to scrap for one of two best runner-up spots with potential rivals like European heavyweights Munster, Leinster and Stade Francais.

The Blues, though, will kick themselves for probably blowing a glorious chance of their first last-eight place since 2001.

Everything was in their favour, including home advantage and opponents who had recorded just a solitary previous Heineken Cup victory on Welsh soil – against Neath in 1998.

But the Blues, apart from a couple of trademark Lomu thrusts, lacked a cutting edge in attack and they appeared a nervous unit – as if the prize at stake was simply too great.

Cardiff’s likely elimination means there probably will not be Welsh representation in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals for a second successive season.

Perpignan put themselves in pole position for the knockout stages with a commanding display to delight their army of travelling fans, especially in the second half when Cardiff spent almost 40 minutes pinned inside their own territory.

Centre Jean-Philippe Grandclaude and substitute David Marty scored tries in each half, while goal-kicker Nicolas Laharrague recovered from a shaky start to boot three penalties and a conversion.

Cardiff’s only reply was an early penalty from fly-half Nick MacLeod, who replaced the injured Nicky Robinson, and the home side could have few complaints about the losing margin.

If Perpignan secure a bonus point success against Calvisano then they will be well on course for a home quarter-final.

Cardiff’s fate is now out of their hands.

Even if they beat Guinness Premiership basement club Leeds tomorrow week their destiny will rest on results elsewhere, and the players’ body language as they left the Arms Park told a solemn story.

French sides are notoriously poor travellers in the Heineken Cup. But Perpignan did their best to make a mockery of that, dominating the game throughout as their forwards took charge.

Hooker Marius Tincu, former All Blacks number eight Scott Robertson and flanker Bernard Goutta were at the heart of a supreme physical effort – while scrum-half Nicolas Durand was a handful for his opposite number, Welsh international Mike Phillips.

It all started promisingly for Cardiff in front of an 11,000-plus crowd, with MacLeod kicking them ahead inside four minutes – and with Laharrague struggling for accuracy and full-back Manny Edmonds experiencing a defensive nightmare, Cardiff appeared up and running.

But they conceded a try on 20 minutes, after centre Marc Stcherbina kicked possession away in midfield. Edmonds ran the ball back at Cardiff, and hooker Tincu linked superbly with Grandclaude to send the centre squeezing over wide out.

Cardiff huffed and puffed to try and fight their way back, and Perpignan held a slender 5-3 interval lead before Laharrague stepped up to the mark and put the Frenchmen out of reach.

He slotted three penalties during a 14-minute spell, making it 14-3.

Cardiff inevitably grew increasingly desperate, and there was a worrying sign for Wales coach Mike Ruddock 16 minutes from time when hooker Rhys Thomas went off with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

With Perpignan controlling the match, they sealed a critical victory when Marty reacted quickest after a Laharrague kick which bounced awkwardly and ensured a defensive nightmare for Blues captain Rhys Williams.

Laharrague added the simple conversion, and Cardiff were sunk – leaving them to reflect on a depressing 80 minutes of European action which promised so much but ultimately delivered so little.