Leinster Rugby v Cardiff Blues

Monday evening just gone saw us welcome Edinburgh to
the RDS Arena and this time we extend a warm welcome
to the management, staff and players of Cardiff Blues.
The season is well and truly underway
now and although supporters are still
distant from being able to be there in
person and support, there was some
positive news on Monday afternoon with
the confirmation of dates and kick-off
times for Rounds 9-11 of the Guinness
PRO14, and once again there are some
mouth-watering fixtures taking place over
the festive period.
Last season, we were scheduled to
welcome Cardiff to the RDS Arena on
May 15, however, due to Covid-19, this
game was postponed and so we must
travel back to the 2018/19 season for
the last time we faced off against the
Blues.
That season saw us record victory on a
score-line of 33-32 in front of a crowd of
9,284 in Cardiff Arms Park. That meeting
was a clash between ourselves as the
reigning Champions Cup champions
and the Blues who were the reigning
Challenge Cup champions and things
certainly didn’t disappoint on the day as
they played out an eight-try cracker.
Cardiff were on the verge of an opening
round victory before a late surge from
replacements Jamison Gibson-Park and a
double from Bryan Byrne were enough to
take the spoils.
Byrne’s final try came at the end of 24
phases of play and was quickly followed
up with the conversion from Player of the
Match Ross Byrne seeing us take the lead
for only the second time in the game.
That victory against the Welsh ensured
our unbeaten run against them has
remained in place since 2011 and no
doubt Leo Cullen and Co will be looking
for more of the same this evening.
Cardiff currently sit second in Conference
B (at the time of writing) and their current
form for this campaign reads WWLLLW.
So, after a somewhat up and down start
to the season, they’re coming here on the
back of a 22-5 win over Benetton.
Cardiff’s other two victories at the start
of the season saw them record victories
away to Zebre and at home to Connacht
so they know the requirements to go to
tough away grounds and secure victory.
There will be no doubt in their minds
however of the mammoth task being
asked with this fixture given our recent run
of form in the RDS and Monday night’s
demolition of Edinburgh where we scored
eight tries including a hat-trick from Cian
Kelleher, two from Luke McGrath and
one from POTM Dan Leavy, who was
unfortunate to have been held up in his
first attempt earlier in the evening so this
was a lovely reward for all of his efforts
in getting back into the squad and the
match-day 23 after a very long lay-off.
Leinster
QUICK STATS
Cardiff
243 POINTS SCORED 101
34 TRIES SCORED 12
2,975 METRES GAINED 1,618
74 POINTS CONCEDED 85
10 TRIES CONCEDED 10
888 TACKLES MADE 990
90% TACKLE SUCCESS 92%
All of the OLSC committee are mindful
of the fact that we are all still unable
to attend games for the most part and
therefore by putting together some
material for you to peruse over, we hope
it keeps you in the rugby frame of mind as
the season slowly but surely rolls along.
As always we’re thankful for the support
we get from Leinster Rugby as a whole
as well as yourselves and we encourage
you to continue to show your support for
the team through social media and the
posts on our pages.
For now though as always, stay safe!
Yours in Rugby,
OLSC Committee
From The Ground Up | 54 | www.leinsterrugby.ie