Shanklin and Roberts deliver touch of class to quell Quins

It was a mantra of Ian McGeechan on last summer's Lions tour that the basis of a good team is combinations. Cardiff Blues have one of the best around in the midfield: Jamie Roberts and Tom Shanklin. Against Harlequins in this Heineken Cup pool opener at the shiny new Cardiff City Stadium, they fielded the pair for the second time in six matches this season. Those two matches have provided the Blues' only wins.

This is not to ignore the many and varied contributions by Sam Warburton, the flanker capped by Wales against the US in June, or Andy Powell making do and mend in the second row, or the team's defence around rucks which had Quins' coaches John Kingston and Tony Diprose yelling "offside" throughout the second half. But when a touch of class was called for, Roberts came up with it, getting his arms through a tackle to send the supporting Shanklin away and create a try for Tom James. It was two minutes into the second half, it put the Blues 13-3 up and nothing the Quins' hard driving forwards could do after that made much tangible difference.

"Jamie's a very good player," said Shanklin, an original choice for the Lions – for whom Roberts was player of the series in South Africa – until he dislocated a shoulder late last season. "Just getting his arms free allowed the rest of us to trail along in support. We've got new half-backs settling in and something has been missing in defence. We're trying to play fast, attacking rugby but we're losing ball in critical areas. But this was a good start in the Heineken."

The decision by Quins to leave out Nick Easter, Danny Care and Ugo Monye under the elite player agreement with England – they were each obliged to have one rest weekend before the November Tests, between weeks four and seven of the season – excited much debate. "When we saw their team sheet we thought, 'We can definitely turn these over now'," said Shanklin. "It was a bit strange they had to rest them for this big game but it was good for us. We'll be sending our strongest team to Sale on Friday – the only trouble is, I don't know what it is because we've got so many injuries."

Gareth Thomas (torn groin), John Yapp (torn biceps) and Bradley Davies (neck) will miss the trip; Paul Tito's participation depends on the captain being cleared of concussion after he was temporarily knocked out in a collision with Quins' Gonzalo Tiesi.

On the plus side, Blues have the loosehead Gethin Jenkins, fit to return in Yapp's place, and Warburton is providing excellent cover for the absent Martyn Williams. "We played good rugby in patches," said Warburton.

Harlequins' commitment to this competition will be clear when they host Toulouse on Saturday evening. A defeat would make the rest of the pool campaign daunting in the extreme.

Cardiff Blues: Tries James, Halfpenny; Conversions Blair 2; Penalties Blair 2. Harlequins: Penalties N Evans 2.

Cardiff Blues: B Blair; G Thomas (L Halfpenny, 23), T Shanklin, J Roberts, T James; S Norton-Knight, R Rees (G Cooper, 79); J Yapp (G Powell, 29-38; S Hobbs, 73), G Williams, T Filise (G Powell, 66), B Davies (D Jones, 32), P Tito (capt; R Sowden-Taylor, 38), A Powell, S Warburton, X Rush.

Harlequins: M Brown; D Strettle, G Tiesi, T Masson, G Camacho (G Lowe, 37); N Evans, S So'oialo; C Jones, T Fuga (C Brooker, 60), M Lambert (A Croall, 60), L Stevenson, J Evans (S O'Connor, 60), C Robshaw, W Skinner (capt), T Guest.

Referee: A Lewis (Ireland).