Brave 14-men Cardiff Blues fall short against Montpellier

Cardiff Blues suffered a 35-24 defeat to Montpellier at the Arms Park in the third round of the Heineken Cup today.
The Welsh side had to play with 14 men for 55 minutes after scrum-half Lloyd Williams was sent off for a nasty looking tip tackle on his opposite number Benoit Paillaugue on 24th minute.
Despite the one man deficit, the Blues put on a very brave display in defence and, helped by a superb Rhys Patchell, above, delayed the inevitable outcome of the game until the dying minutes of the game.
The 19-year-old academy product showed class and maturity way beyond his age to control the game very well and put the Blues in the right part of the field.
But the size and sheer power of the French side required 15 men to handle and, led by a barn-storming Mamuka Gorgodze, Montpellier showed patience to grind down the Welsh defence and secure the win to remain in contention for qualification with a mouthwatering clash against Toulon in the last round of the group stage in January.
Patchell and Paillaugue exchanged penalties to see the home side lead 9-6 after 20 minutes but the game was about to, literally, turn on its head soon after with Williams’red card.
Paillaugue recovered quickly to level the score from the resulting penalty but Patchell dropped a goal soon after go back in front.
It was short lived however and the visitors exploited the men advantage five minutes later to take the lead.
After numerous phases of play using the whole width of the pitch, the Blues’ defence struggled to maintain its shape and winger Yoan Audrin had a free run to score in the left corner.
Paillaugue added the conversion and another penalty either side of a Patchell penalty to see Montpellier lead 19-15 at the break.
Patchell made it a one point game early in the second half with a superb penalty from well inside his own half.
The Blues were more than holding their ground in this second half but they eventually paid for their brave effort just after the our mark.
First, Paillaugue kicked his fifth penalty of the game before man-moutain and captain for the day Gorgodze barged his way over from close range to make it 27-18 and 15 minutes to go.
The Blues kept going and Patchell brought the home side within striking range with two penalties in quick succession to set up a thriller.
But the French weren’t going to be denied and replacement winger Timoci Nagusa sealed the win with a try two minutes from time.
For Cardiff Blues
Penalties: Patchell 7
Drop Goal: Patchell
Sent off: L. Williams
For Montpellier
Tries: Audrin, Gorgodze, Nagusa
Conversion: Paillaugue
Penalties: Paillaugue 6
Cardiff Blues: Tovey; Cuthbert, Evans, Hewitt, Robinson; Patchell, L. Williams; Hobbs, Breeze, Andrews; Reed, Down; Copeland, Navidi, Pretorius (capt.).
Replacements: R. Wiliams, Filise, Bourrust, Cook, Hamilton, Jones, Sweeney, O. Williams.
Montpellier: Thiery; Audrin, Combezou, Bosch, Berard; Fernandez, Paillaugue; Nariashvili, Creevy, Bustos; Hancke, Fakate; Bias, Gorgodze (capt.), Beattie.
Replacements: Van Vuuren, Watremez, Fa’amausili, De Marco, Galletier, Escande, Hape, Nagusa.
Referee: John Lacey
Star man: Mamuka Gorgodze – Montpellier
NICK VERDIER