Blair kicks hard-tackling Blues past Toulouse

A saying beloved of coaches is that attack sells tickets, defence wins titles. The Cardiff Blues ought to have it embroidered on their jerseys. With the dome-headed Tom Shanklin keeping all at bay like a lighthouse on the Welsh region’s rock of a backline, and gang tackles galore from the tireless, scrambling forwards, the grandees of Toulouse were battered into submission.

The French could have gone out on a week of benders in Cardiff city centre and ended up with less sore heads and bodies than they will have this morning.

Recollections of the first Heineken Cup final, on this ground in 1996, when Toulouse defeated Cardiff in extra time, led to the realisation that the French aristos had since won the competition twice more, in 2003 and 2005. Cardiff, either as club or, since 2003, region, had not so much as reached the last four. But the patient head coach, Dai Young, has built a squad to be reckoned with. Finally, you might ask? In more than one sense, yes. The Blues have the Anglo-Welsh EDF Energy Cup final against Gloucester at Twickenham next Saturday and now a European semi-final back here next month against Leicester.

“Medals are like haemorrhoids,” someone once remarked of the military in a Marty Feldman movie. “Every arsehole gets them in the end.” The Blues did not beat the pants off Toulouse but from the first few minutes, when Martyn Williams got into a couple of scraps with the visiting scrum-half, Byron Kelleher, they fought like fury. Kelleher was probably minding his fly-half, Fréddy Michalak, who was picked instead of David Skrela. A bit odd that Vincent Clerc, on the wing yesterday after missing last season’s final defeat here by Munster, should say beforehand that Toulouse are “lacking at scrum-half and fly-half”. But it is all relative.

A penalty apiece by Ben Blair and Michalak made it 3-3 after five minutes. Then the Blues twice lived on their nerves with Thierry Dusautoir prominent; they held the flanker superbly at a ruck in the shadow of the posts without conceding a penalty and then, after 20 minutes, Kelleher found a gap off the scrum very close to the line but the ball was knocked on as Dusautoir attempted to fish it out of a forest of legs and dot it down. With some relief, Tom James – one half of Blues’s pair of scrum-capped wingers, with Leigh Halfpenny – ran out of defence. When he was tackled by Michalak, a Toulouse hand in a ruck gave Blair a 45-metre shot at the posts. The full-back missed but in the 32nd minute, from similar distance but a straighter angle, he put the home side 6-3 in front.

When Wales play here in front of 75,000, the public address announcer screams to make himself heard. Yesterday, with around 36,000 in on a gorgeous afternoon – the decision to shut the roof was quietly reversed – he shouted: “Come on Cardiff, let’s get behind the Blues!” The response tended to be momentary, shrill cheers, the crowd enthralled rather than energised by the struggle at tackle and ruck. The referee’s cry of “lachez” (French for “leave it!”) could be heard on the upper tier.

A clever kick by Yannick Jauzion rolled into touch by the corner flag but Gareth Williams threw confidently beyond the tail of the line-out and Xavier Rush and Nicky Robinson cleared. Still, Toulouse stayed solidly on the front foot in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Michalak had a drop at goal which drifted just wide; Maxime Médard jinked clear but passed into touch when he was trying to reach Cédric Heymans; Gareth Williams and Paul Tito each had to hare back to the 22 to secure stray ball. But with Martyn Williams and Rush doing more good work around the fringes than Vidal Sassoon, the Blues suckered Toulouse into an umpteenth breakdown penalty and from 40m Blair made it 9-3 after 57 minutes.

On came Andy Powell to give the Blues a new threat but they were more concerned with stopping Toulouse. After 63 minutes Martyn Williams killed the ball and was lucky to escape a yellow card – Skrela kicked the penalty – then Jauzion broke a tackle and charged into the 22. Hauled down by Jason Spice, he was unable to get his pass to Médard while Heymans, on the outside, waited in vain.

It was the last chance. The result was a fillip to the Welsh after their Six Nations title went west to the Irish here three weeks ago and it was good news for England, with the demise of the last French club giving a seventh qualifying place for next season to the Guinness Premiership. Sacre Blues.

Cardiff Blues: B Blair; L Halfpenny, T Shanklin, J Roberts, T James; N Robinson, J Spice; G Jenkins, G Williams, T Filise (J Yapp, 69), B Davies (D Jones, 57), P Tito (capt), M Molitika (A Powell, 64), X Rush, M Williams.

Toulouse: M Médard; V Clerc, F Fritz (M Kunavore, 57), Y Jauzion, C Heymans (C Poitrenaud, 72); F Michalak (D Skrela, 57), B Kelleher; D Human (Y Montes, 63), W Servat, S Perugini, F Pelous (G Lamboley, 66), P Albacete, J Bouilhou (capt; Y Nyanga, 57), S Sowerby, T Dusautoir.

Referee: C White (England).