6 hours ago
1
United Rugby Championship
Cardiff (12) 20
Tries: Mulder, Adams, Sebastian Cons: Lloyd Pen: Lloyd
Edinburgh (19) 19
Tries: Wells, Shiel, Ashman Cons: Scott, Lang
Cardiff's impressive home form continued in the United Rugby Championship (URC) as Ioan Lloyd kicked them to a dramatic one-point victory over Edinburgh.
There were five tries in a breathless first half, with Lewis Wells, Charlie Shiel and Ewan Ashman crossing for the visitors, while Johan Mulder and Josh Adams kept Cardiff in the contest.
Javan Sebastian scored against his former side to bring Cardiff closer after the break, while Lloyd sealed the win with a penalty from the halfway line.
It capped a player of the match performance for the fly-half on his first Cardiff start.
His side now head into the international break having won four from five matches, while Edinburgh have only one win to their name.
Edinburgh were without Scotland wings Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham, but still arrived in the Welsh capital littered with internationals, including the skipper Magnus Bradbury who was recalled to Scotland's squad this week.
And it was the visitors who got off to the perfect start, crossing in the corner with some fans barely taking their seats at the Arms Park.
Wes Goosen's break did the initial damage, with Cammy Scott given space to put in a perfectly weighted kick for Wells to go over.
Cardiff were dealt a further blow when Taulupe Faletau was forced off, with the number eight no doubt an injury concern for Wales' autumn internationals.
But they re-grouped when Taine Basham was quickest to pounce on a loose ball and tore down the wing before finding Mulder in support.
Edinburgh hit back almost straight from the re-start, Shiel taking route one to the try line after a big carry from D'arcy Rae.
Two further tries came inside a breathless opening quarter, Adams starting and finishing a superb 90m counter-attack before Ashman powered his way to the line to restore Edinburgh's lead, one they held until the break.
Sebastian relished scoring against his former side after the break, the Scotland prop bulldozing his way through two defenders.
But Lloyd's wayward boot ensured Edinburgh held on to a slender two point lead.
Errors crept into both side's games as the rain came in, while Adams was denied a second try just after the hour mark.
He looked certain to score after Ben Thomas' offload, but a late intervention from Luke Crosby forced a knock-on.
Adams later hobbled off the field to add to Wales' injury concerns.
Cardiff had another chance to take the lead eight minutes from time after some good work at the breakdown from Thomas forced a penalty.
Lloyd, who had missed two easier attempts from the tee, stepped up and confidently struck a 49m penalty to put his side ahead for the first time in the match.
It was a lead they held onto as they secured a fifth straight victory at the Arms Park for the first time in six years.
Cardiff coach Corniel Van Zyl said: "I'm so chuffed for the boys, they put in a great shift to end up on top, we knew it was going to be a tough battle.
"We spoke a lot about going into the dark places and just enjoying it, I know it was tough and you can see the boys were really tired.
"The first thing [to work on] after tonight is obviously lineouts, that's definitely something we need to sort out, we'll look at our game and see where we can improve, but ultimately you can't coach the fighting spirit."
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt said: "I was disappointed in the second half.
"We made a lot of kicking errors and folded under pressure in the kicking game and perhaps were not patient enough.
"It's been frustrating because we've had three away games and one home game and the three away games have been lost by four points – if you add them all up.
"But that doesn't matter, it's still losses, so we've got to get better away from home."
Cardiff: Beetham; Adams, Millard, B Thomas, Bowen; Lloyd, Mulder; Southworth, Belcher (capt), Sebastian, McNally, Nott, Mann, Basham, Faletau.
Replacements: Hughes, Domachowski, Assiratti, Donnell, Lawrence, D Thomas, Davies, Sheedy.
Edinburgh: Goosen; McCann, O'Conor, Lang, Wells; Scott, Shiel; Schoeman, Ashman, Rae, Sykes, Gilchrist, McConnell, Richardson, Bradbury (capt).
Replacements: Harrison, Venter, Hill, Hunter-Hill, Crosbie, McAlpine, Thompson, Davidson.
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (WRU), Carwyn Sion (WRU)
TMO: Colin Stanley (IRFU)
