 Scotland fly-half Dan Parks made his debut for Cardiff Blues in the game |
A crowd of 10,016 turned out for Martyn Williams' testimonial game and saw the Blues record a comfortable friendly win over local rivals Dragons in Cardiff. A close-range Maama Molitika try converted by fly-half Dan Parks on his Blues debut made it 7-0 at half-time. Tom Shanklin added a try before going off with a minor arm injury, Jason Tovey's kick the Dragons' only score. Lloyd Williams, one of a horde of replacements near the end, got a late try, Parks adding a second conversion. Leigh Halfpenny went down with a deep cut to the mouth late in added time, but the Blues and Wales wing is hopeful of recovering in time for next week's Magners League kick-off. Veteran Wales and British and Irish Lions flanker Williams - who is starting a well-deserved testimonial season at the Blues - gave a trademark display in his 68 minutes, with plenty of neat touches and even a 60m clearance kick. The injury-ravaged Dragons started with triallist David Bishop alongside Tom Riley at centre. With Wayne Evans and Danny Lee on the casualty list, their only fit scrum-half - 18-year-old Jonathan Evans - played the entire match.
Blues: Chris Czekaj; Leigh Halfpenny, Casey Laulala, Tom Shanklin, Tom James; Dan Parks, Richie Rees; Tom Davies, Rhys Williams, Scott Andrews, Bradley Davies, Paul Tito (capt), Maama Molitika, Martyn Williams, Xavier Rush. Replacements: Sam Hobbs, Kristian Dacey, John Yapp, Deiniol Jones, James Down, Tom Brown, Michael Paterson, Sam Warburton, Lloyd Williams, Ceri Sweeney, Gavin Evans, Richard Mustoe. Dragons: Matt Evans; Will Harries, Tom Riley, David Bishop, Aled Brew; Jason Tovey, Jonathan Evans; Hugh Gustafson, Tom Willis (capt), Ben Castle, Adam Jones, Scott Morgan, Joe Bearman, Robin Sowden-Taylor, Hugo Ellis. Replacements: Steve Jones, Nigel Hall, Pat Palmer, Ali McKenzie, Adam Brown, Dan Lydiate, Lewis Evans, Jevon Groves, Matthew Jones, Tom Cooper, Adam Hughes, Nicky Griffiths, Matthew Pewtner.
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